Runner Ups (SYOC)
by nerfherder-han
Summary: Decades after peace was restored and heroes became symbols of hope once more, tragedy strikes once again: Students from prestigious hero academies disappearing, only to turn up dead less than a week later. Zenshi Academy, a school slowly losing public support after six of its own students fall victim, desperately clamors to fill their ranks and find the killer responsible. CLOSED
1. 00: Hunter and Prey

**Hooh. You can find the form for Runner Ups on my profile and the rules/info for the story above it. Lemme know what you guys think, and I'll be updating again in mid-March!**

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**00 - Hunter and Prey**

Consciousness hit him like a ton of bricks.

When Ishisaki Natsuki woke up this morning and got ready for school, perhaps even as he'd attended school, he never saw his day taking the turn it did. Truth be told, he didn't think any of the other students around him considered this today. Including Natsuki, there were four of them in total: Himself, still in his Shiketsu uniform; Chou Hirari, the second-year from UA with the butterfly Quirk (who he _hadn't_ watched the sports festival specifically for this year, _pfft_); a younger boy, probably a first-year, in a tattered Zenshi uniform; and an older girl from Seiai, still unconscious and looking the most out of shape.

Natsuki couldn't imagine how four kids like them, aspiring heroes from the country's top Hero Academies, had the carpet pulled out from under them like this. He himself was from Shiketsu, and he was willing to excuse his capture as simple carelessness—but _Hirari_, a top student among UA's second-years, had somehow been caught too. _How_?

He tried to move, but his hands were bound tight behind his back. Natsuki furrowed his brows, worked his jaw—was he gagged? It made sense, considering the others were as well—as he tried to take in the room they were confined to. No windows, barely any light aside from the small globe hanging from the ceiling. Concrete walls, concrete floor. Just a single, metal door that had bars over the small window.

A box specially made for them.

Natsuki grunted as he rolled onto his belly. Hirari, though hunched over herself and trembling, looked up at him in surprise. She'd been crying, he thought as he got a good look at her face. But it was hard to imagine her crying over something like this—not when she'd been through worse just to pass her first year at UA. This would be a simple breakout, he thought, and the first step would be to establish a plan with his fellow captives.

He kicked off one of his shoes. His sock soon followed, slowly wiggled off my his foot and yanked off fully once under the grip of his sneakers. Natsuki held is breath. He met Hirari's gaze again, and he nodded to her legs tucked under her.

Hirari immediately flopped onto her stomach once she saw him reach for her with his bare foot. She stretched out her legs and did her best to shuffle over towards him. Natsuki couldn't help but watch as a dark patch of her uniform slowly bloomed red under the strain.

His big toe brushed her ankle. It was all he needed to activate his Quirk.

_Ishisaki Natsuki - Quirk: Wireless  
Once Natsuki comes into skin contact with another person, he can use his Quirk to telepathically communicate with them from great distances. His secret technique is creating multiple connections at once, using himself as a living tower for others to communicate._

Thoughts flooded Natsuki all at once. First it was Hirari's panic, then her dismay. By the time he moved his foot away and began shuffling to the boy from Zenshi, he could hear Hirari's bewilderment over what effect reaching for him even had.

As he reached for the Zenshi boy, who in turn pushed his face (reluctantly) within Natsuki's reach, he tested his connection to Hirari.

'_Am I talking to Chou Hirari?'_

Hirari let out an audible gasp as her head whipped around to face Natsuki's new position. _'What the_—_'_

'_Chou-san, my name's Ishisaki Natsuki. My Quirk allows me to talk to others through telepathy if I touch them.'_

He was met with silence. Natsuki strained to reach for the Zenshi boy's forehead. The pad of his toe grazed his brow, and he forced the Zenshi boy into his connection with Hirari. Both he and Hirari cringed—normally, if he had more time to ease the connection, it wouldn't hurt. But Natsuki had no idea how little time they had. The quicker they were all on the same page, the better.

'_Holy shit_—_'_

'_Who said that!?'_

Natsuki cleared his throat. _'Calm down, please! It's my Quirk!'_

The boy from Zenshi visibly relaxed. His shoulders slumped and he rolled onto his back, his eyes closing as he let out a long sigh. _'Groovy.'_

'_Under better circumstances, I'm sure it would be.'_ Natsuki turned his sights to the Seiai girl. She was still unconscious; he wasn't sure if he was going to risk connecting her while she was still out of it.

'_I know who Chou-san is,'_ the Zenshi boy went on, _'but who are you, exactly?'_

'_Wow, the third-years weren't kidding about the notoriety being a dual-edged sword.'_

Natsuki rolled onto his back and took in a deep breath. He counted to three, focusing all his energy to his core, and attempted to lift himself into a sitting position.

It was a poor attempt on his part.

Ready to give up on his physical prowess after one try, Natsuki just rolled back onto his side and looked at the two conscious teens. _'Name's Ishisaki Natsuki, second-year at Shiketsu_. _Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances, or that my Quirk isn't more flashy.'_

The Zenshi boy shrugged. Natsuki could just barely make out a few injuries from under his uniform, but otherwise he seemed to be in better shape than the rest of them.

'_It's fine. I'm Hako Shimeru, first-year at Zenshi. Don't worry about your Quirk, Ishisaki_—_mine tends to make up for most.'_

Much like Natsuki had earlier, Shimeru wiggled off his shoe and began yanking at his sock. One foot was free, and he paused for a moment as he reared his legs back. When Shimeru kicked his legs out in front of him, Natsuki saw the skin glow and seemingly part as a small pencil case flew across the room. It landed against the wall closest to the Seiai girl with a loud rattle.

_Hako Shimeru - Quirk: Hammerspace Body  
Shimeru can store objects up to the size of his torso within his body, and can eject them at will. The most common item stored in his body are air-tight snacks._

Natsuki stared at the pencil case with wide eyes. He couldn't even muster a stray thought at the display, but Hirari seemed to sum it up best.

'_God damn,'_ she said. _'You're literally full of surprises.'_

'_Aren't I?'_ Shimeru was gloating. He was probably the type to enjoy all manner of praise.

Natsuki gave a final glance at the Seiai girl. She still wasn't showing signs of rousing, which meant they could very well need to operate without her. But, he thought as he looked back to the conscious teens, they sure as hell weren't leaving her behind. Heroes didn't do that.

'_Hako-san, what else do you have in there?'_

'_What else…? Hold on a second…'_

As Shimeru pondered what he had stored with his Quirk, Natsuki's attention flickered back to Hirari. With someone from UA on their side, escape was bound to be a cinch. Especially when Hirari's wings and the vacuum they could create were enough to rival even her more tactical peers in 1-A.

Hirari had a pained look on her face when Natsuki was able to meet her gaze. Once again he noticed the bloom of red against her uniform, but now it had spread beyond the darker splotches from earlier.

Cautious, Natsuki asked, _'Chou-san?'_

Hirari sucked in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. _'We'd be in the clear if I could wreak havoc outside, huh? And I could fly the Seiai student to safety, maybe even get to an agency nearby.'_

That was the nature of her Quirk and her physical strength. Hirari was slated to become a top tier rescue hero, after all. And with wings as bright and beautiful as hers, even civilians would take note and report the sighting to the police long before she'd find an agency.

Hirari turned around until her back faced Natsuki. The red blooming against her uniform had expanded further—blood? Then how long had she been bleeding? And—And where was the back of her uniform, he realised? Torn away where her shoulder blades would be, leaving the paper-white skin exposed as fresh blood seeped from two distinct cuts.

And then what remained of her wings began to wiggle their ways out from the slits against her skin.

_Chou Hirari - Quirk: Butterfly  
Hirari possesses a pair of bright butterfly wings that can be folded back under her skin. The wings are powerful enough to lift Hirari and one other person, and can create vacuums of wind that can knock most people off their feet._

They'd been clearly hacked apart, torn from their base at Hirari's spine. All that remained of her wings were two thin, quivering slivers that could barely even lift a real butterfly, let alone Hirari and another person.

'_Oh my God,'_ Shimeru cut in, pausing his train of thought at the sight of his senior. Hirari turned back around with a dejected look in her eyes.

'_Whoever got us… They hacked off my wings. I swear I put up a fight, but…'_

'_It's okay, Chou-san,'_ Natsuki tried. She just shook her head and looked to Shimeru.

'_Did you remember what you have, Hako-san?'_

Shimeru furrowed his brows and reared back his legs again. This time he aimed for Natsuki as he kicked his feet out, and he used much less force compared to last time. Natsuki watched as a small box cutter blade raced towards him. He panicked, backed off as quickly as he could, but the blade came to a halt just a foot away from his face.

Natsuki gave the younger teen a dry look.

'_It's for my snacks! I can't just take a pair of scissors without someone noticing me!'_

'_It'll do, Hako-san,'_ Hirari told him. She looked to Natsuki as she began shuffling over towards the blade. _'Ishisaki-san, roll onto your side and I'll try cut the ropes.'_

'_Your back okay?'_

She let a bitter laugh slip out loud. _'Who cares? We just need to get out of here alive.'_

She had a point, Natsuki thought. He heaved a sigh and rolled himself over, exposing his bound wrists to her as she continued to shuffle over. Despite the blood on her fingers, Hirari seemed confident enough to hold the blade and begin cutting the ropes at a snail's pace.

As Hirari did, Natsuki pondered what kind of resistance they'd meet outside the room. How was he even caught in the first place? It was so hard to remember, almost like he'd repressed it, but there was something to it that nagged at him. Something like a nightmare.

'_Drowning…?'_ he thought aloud. Hirari paused.

'_What was that?'_

'_Nothing. I just… All I can remember is this drowning sensation. And being…'_ Scared beyond words. Convinced he was going to die right then and there.

Shimeru tried to shuffle a little closer to them. _'Yeah… Yeah, now that I think about it, I can't think of anything no matter how hard I try.'_

As she resumed cutting his bindings, Hirari said, _'Lucky.'_

'_You remember something?'_ Shimeru asked her.

She was quiet for a time. It wasn't until Natsuki could feel his bonds loosening that she spoke again. _'Darkness. Everywhere was just this unending nothingness. Felt like it was swallowing me whole.'_

Hirari paused.

'_I was terrified,'_ she added, almost ashamed.

As though it would fix anything, Natsuki said, _'So was I.'_

There was a loud rumble from outside the room. Hirari lost her grip on the blade, hissing as it cut her finger and dropped to the ground. All three teens panicked as the rumble picked up, soon turning into the groaning of a door being dragged across the floor. Natsuki felt the sweat beading across his forehead as he tried to roll back over.

The blade dug into his hand, forcing him to recoil and flop onto his stomach. Hirari inched closer to him as the door to the room was forced open. She took an almost protective stance over him.

All Natsuki could hear was a pair of heels click against the concrete floor, approaching him and Hirari at a languid pace. Hirari's thoughts were racing too fast for Natsuki to make any out, but soon he didn't need to listen to her thoughts. Hirari was tossed off of him like she weighed nothing, and the screech she let out through her gag was enough to deafen him. A hand snatched at Natsuki's collar, lifting him from the floor, and soon he was being dragged out the door.

The last thing he saw from the concrete room was Hirari, writhing on her back as fresh tears of agony streamed down her face.

"I was hoping you'd be out for longer," his assailant purred. Natsuki tried to keep his breathing even. Maybe there was still hope for Shimeru and Hirari. Maybe he could give them instructions until the very end.

'_Don't stop trying to get out! We're still connected!'_

'_Ishisaki!?'_

'_Ishisaki-san, where are you?'_

'_What's happening!?'_

Natsuki was tossed gracelessly to the floor. His chin slammed hard against tile, and he could feel the skin split. He didn't stop, even as he heard the heels click away from him.

'_Tiled flooring just outside. It's pitch black.'_

'_I_—_I have a flashlight, I think!'_

The clicking paused for a second. Natsuki held his breath. He wanted so bad for his sight to adjust, to see what was beyond the tiled floor.

The click resumed, heading straight for him once again.

'_Hako-san, try and flip Chou-san over and cut her loose. Wake up the Seiai student as soon as possible, okay?'_

Natsuki squeezed his eyes shut as the clicking came to a stop by his side. He didn't know what happened if he got hurt whenever someone was linked to him. The other students always put his safety at the top of the list, if only because he was their walking, talking communications tower. But Natsuki could assume the worst, even now.

He severed the link in the middle of Shimeru's pleading for advice. He was totally alone with their captor.

"Are you scared?" that silken voice asked. Natsuki kept his eyes firmly shut, refusing to budge even an inch. It earned him a proud chuckle that slowly moved closer. "Good. Heroes should never be afraid."

Natsuki was almost ashamed at how quickly he'd passed out once the knife was plunged into his back.

* * *

"The applications have dropped by more than half. Currently Zenshi Academy's interest has dropped below that of Isamu Academy among the public."

The staff gathered in the boardroom was apprehensive at the news. From the third-year teachers, who still mourned the losses of students all over the area, to the school nurse, who cradled his head in his hands without so much as a peep. The sight was hard to take in for the headmaster of Zenshi Academy—the Hero of Jötnar, Skathi—but nevertheless she held her neutral expression.

The teacher who'd relayed the report to her was still standing, but he was reluctant to say another word. And how else could he follow up such poor news? Zenshi was losing public support, let alone student interest, and it was only a matter of time before they had to close their doors for good.

Hako Shimeru's body turning up in an alleyway may as well have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

From her left, a soft voice spoke up, "That's understandable. Isamu Academy has significantly less victims compared to other schools."

"Y—Yeah…" Kronos reluctantly began to sit back down. He cast a cursory glance at Skathi once more before he finally settled, pinching the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand. Mononoke, the one who'd spoken up, just continued to address the staff.

"This just means we need to prove we're as safe a school as any other," he said. He flicked open his fan and hid behind it. Sharp eyes landed on Skathi. "Headmaster, may I yet again inquire about dorms?"

"I agree with Mononoke-san," Poltergirl, one of the first-year teachers cut in. Skathi was struggling to keep her neutral expression. If only the previous headmaster hadn't retired so close to the kidnappings. If only Skathi hadn't been burdened with guiding everyone on her own.

"We'd be able to keep a better eye on them," another teacher agreed.

"Yeah… But didn't that girl from UA get snatched off the street?"

"We can bolster security, maybe?"

"This school has had nothing but security improvements over the last _decade_. If it's not safe with dorms, what's the point?"

Skathi cleared her throat. Silence took over in an instant, all eyes back on her with both eagerness and dismay behind them.

The previous headmaster had wanted to keep from making Zenshi a boarding school. He hadn't agreed with forcing the students to be in the same vicinity, not when so many clashed and were incompatible together. Zenshi was a hero school dedicated to forming teams and duos, but it prided itself in being a birthplace for _organic_ relationships. So much strain and interaction against a student's wishes would just make things harder.

But Mononoke was right. He'd been pushing for dorms ever since the first Zenshi student turned up dead—one of his own students, no less. Skathi could only delay using this safety net for so long.

"We have one month until the entrance exam is held," she said. A few teachers nodded along with her. "Kronos, can you and Poltergirl address parental concerns before then?"

Kronos saluted. Poltergirl nodded without so much as a word. "We'll do our best, Headmaster," Kronos told her.

"Good. Materia Medica?"

The school nurse looked up with a start. "Yes, Headmaster?" he said.

"You studied under Recovery Girl at UA, right?" As Materia Medica nodded, Skathi continued, "Until we're ready for students here, I want you to spend as much time as possible at UA with the student they recovered. The quicker Chou Hirari recovers, the quicker we can try get answers about her captivity."

"Considering she had a jacket from Zenshi with Hako's name on the tag," Poltergirl mused, "it's safe to assume he worked with her to get just one of them out."

It was a very safe assumption. Moreso, it was the scenario that made Skathi the most proud. Teamwork under even the most dire circumstances was one of the first things they taught at Zenshi, and Shimeru had taken it to heart.

"Mononoke, you said you had blueprints?" Skathi looked to the man in the kimono. He snapped his fan shut and smiled at her. He knew she was stuck in a corner. "Bring them to my office as soon as possible. I'll contact contractors and heroes with Quirks suited for construction on such short notice."

The staff meeting was dismissed with her final order. Skathi watched her staff file out of the room one by one—some of them pausing to bid her farewell for the day, some of them rushing to get out of the gloomy room as soon as possible—until finally just Mononoke remained. He was busy fixing one of his long sleeves, but even as Skathi gathered her things and psyched herself up to return to her office, it was clear he was waiting for her specifically.

She joined his side, towering over him even with his koppori geta on, and heaved a sigh that slowly shifted into a groan.

"Now, now," Mononoke chided. "You've done your best."

"My '_best_' resulted in the sixth student dying under my care," Skathi scowled.

They exited the room and made their ways towards her office. Mononoke's wasn't far off, considering he kept his blueprints and ideas for the school in his desk down the hall. It made the walk back feel less lonely, more like she had someone on her side to keep her from being too cynical. Not that she usually let her cynicism boil to the surface often.

"Skathi-chan, don't beat yourself up over it." Mononoke looked up at her with a kind expression. He used to always give his students the same face, back before the first victim from Zenshi had been one of his own. "Some things are out of our control."

_Like inheriting a dying school_, she thought bitterly. But she couldn't say it out loud. This was probably Mononoke's sentiment ever since he had to accept his failure to save his own student. And with Shimeru…

Maybe some things really were out of her control. It was hard to keep tabs on the things you never knew about to begin with.

Sometimes she wondered how Mononoke didn't go mad without even that much control.

Her office was just around the corner as their conversation petered off. Skathi glanced down at Mononoke a final time, just to gauge his reaction to her question: "Mamonaka-san, are you sure you're okay to teach for another year?"

Mononoke blinked up at her in surprise. The question had caught him off guard, the clanks of his geta against the floor halting all of a sudden. His calm expression fell into something more melancholic, but then he popped open his fan and hid behind it like he usually did.

"Of course!" he assured her. "I owe it to my remaining students to keep going, after all. And Hanashi-kun promised he'd cook me desserts just for the two of us by the end of each week."

Nishi Hanashi—Cloverdaze, a friend of Kronos and Poltergirl as well as a former classmate from their own school. Skathi didn't really know what to think of the two's relationship, but Mononoke always seemed to perk up whenever Hanashi was brought up. Cloverdaze didn't settle for teaching like his friends had—too awkward, apparently, and his Quirk was too useful in the field to keep relegated to a classroom. He was semi-active, available when needed but usually saved for emergencies.

Skathi let out a defeated laugh and turned back for her office. "Alright," she said. "But you tell me if you need a breather, okay? If I'm not allowed to overwork myself, neither are you."

He laughed back at her, more amused than anything. "Yes, yes, right away, Koori-san."

"_Headmaster Skathi_," she hissed at him. "Still your senior, young man."

Mononoke threw back the rebuttal of being only a year younger than her. Skathi just shook her head and opened the door to her office, feeling just a little bit more at ease despite the daunting task ahead of her.


	2. 01: Preparations

**Hello hello. This isn't an update with the cast reveals but more one to give not only a hint to how Zenshi's entrance exam will go, but also a bit of a look at my own character and his Quirk. Subs still close on March 17, but I'm getting a lot of amazing subs that is gonna make choosing the final cast difficult, for sure!**

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**01 - Preparations**

A knock on her door first thing in the morning, just a day after the second- and third-years had begun bringing their things to their new dorms, was something Skathi found a surprise. She sipped at her coffee, pen frozen on the paperwork in front of her as the door opened slowly. One eye peeked in, wide and brown and locking on her in an instant; and then the door was opened in full, Class 3-A's representative giving her a sheepish smile.

Skathi set down her mug and began to welcome the student, but paused midway through her name once she noticed the telltale sign of Quirk usage in her appearance. Instead of the usual pink hair and heterochromia—one eye white and one eye brown—Amai Ichigo had only brunette hair and chocolate eyes.

"What's this?" Skathi said instead, gesturing to Ichigo with the pen. Ichigo ran a hand through her short hair and let out a nervous laugh.

"I kinda had too much stuff to do back in the dorm, but I also had this really neat idea I wanted to tell you before the entrance exam was solidified." Ichigo winked, suddenly no longer sheepish. No, that was the smug expression of someone who got to have their cake and eat it. "I drew straws and Chocolate won."

"Ah." Skathi nodded in understanding. That certainly made sense.

_Amai Ichigo - Quirk: Duplication  
Ichigo can split herself into three Ichigos, each one coordinated as pink, white and brown that are fittingly named Strawberry, Vanilla and Chocolate. Whenever she splits, she draws straws with herself to see who gets to undertake a more fun task._

"Anyone else with you?" Skathi went on. Ichigo shook her head as she shut the door behind her. She wasted no time settling into one of the chairs in front of Skathi's desk. "Too busy?"

"They knew you'd be sweeter on me."

Skathi let out a short, dubious grunt. If anything was to be learned from teaching Heroics in this school, it was that Amai Ichigo _always_ got impatient once plans were made. If she weren't so capable, able to be in three places at once quite literally, Skathi would question why her peers would vote her as class president three years in a row. They hadn't even waited until classes officially started to declare her again this year.

However, if Ichigo was too excited to simply wait for the whole group of students she'd been discussing her idea with, then at least Skathi knew it was an idea worth listening to. Maybe not first thing in the morning, right after the dorm's started being filled with returning students, but Skathi digressed.

"Shoot," she said. Ichigo beamed at the woman.

"So almost everyone had trouble getting their parents to let them come back this year," Ichigo said, and then amended, "in 3-A, at least. And there's been non-stop talk about whether or not it's safe to be in our school right now."

Skathi gave her a dry look that screamed how aware she was of those facts. Ichigo waved a hand dismissively.

"Calm down, Headmaster. A few of us were up brainstorming last night how to convince everyone that Zenshi's still safe, especially with the teamwork aspect, and then it hit me: We show the applicants what they'll become after a bit of fine tuning and teamwork." Ichigo clapped her hands together. "A lot of our training revolves around working together and having each others' backs and all that stuff, and compared to that our entrance exam is sort of a solo gig for new students."

A platinum blonde brow arched high. Scathi actually found herself setting aside her paperwork and leaning forward on her desk, mirroring Ichigo's own eager position. "Go on."

"Back in our first year we did a lot of 'capture the flag' training, and it got me thinking that maybe we should do something similar for the entrance exam. Zenshi is a school founded on teamwork, so why not make the first step an introduction to what we stand for?"

Skathi nodded along. It wasn't a bad idea. Up until now they'd just been using a standard point system based on individual performance, pitting applicants against each other in scavenger hunts to evaluate attention to detail, creativing with their Quirks, and even determination. But what Ichigo was suggesting was definitely in line with what Zenshi did its best to promote once students were chosen.

The girl in front of her cleared her throat then. Skathi met her gaze, finding a more somber, if serious expression on her face.

"We also…" Ichigo bit her lip. Her fingers dug into the hem of her sweater, scrunching it up like a stress ball. "We wanna… make a statement. For them."

"Th—?" Skathi cut herself off before she could even finish. Who else could Ichigo be referring to but their fallen classmates? To Shimeru, the most recent to die so horribly?

Ichigo went on, "The Symbol of Peace was just in our position two decades ago and he still persevered and restored order as best he could. He was _fifteen_ during some of the biggest attacks against UA. I want to remind everyone that we're the same caliber, that we all signed up and _trained_ for a life of danger like Deku did. If he's still up and kicking after all that, then why can't we do the same?

"And it's not like what happens in the exam stays in the exam. D'you know how many people I had hounding me on the street about how I passed? Dozens. If we make ourselves the entrance exam, the applicants who talk the most will spread the news that we're not going to be pushovers."

Skathi couldn't help herself. "And if this provokes the killer? What then?"

There was no hesitation in Ichigo's response: "We make our bed. We lay in it."

* * *

"Teruki… Are you _sure_?"

"Mama, we talked about this. You promised not to talk me out of it, remember? I even got it in writing."

Kousaki Megumi, anxious mother she was, fussed over her son despite his protests. It was becoming a more frequent occurrence as the date for Zenshi's entrance exam approached. It wasn't a surprise, given what the woman learned in her life, but it still left Teru exasperated whenever she kicked up a fuss.

"I'm not, I swear," she insisted. Teru looked up from his breakfast at her, dubious expression on his face. "I just— I wanna know you're _certain_. I never taught you anything suitable for this. Shushu barely showed you what she picked up in middle school. You're still…"

Teru's eyes darted down to the stump that remained of Megumi's forearm before he could stop himself. The woman sucked in a deep breath. She tucked the limb under her apron, unable to meet his gaze. He knew well enough that this was the reason she fussed so much—the risk of overuse, the risk of doing irreparable damage like his mother and sister had. Teru grew up witnessing those consequences himself, all too aware of what would happen if he messed up even a little.

It still exasperated him to no end. Fifteen years watching consequence after consequence, one would assume he never stopped thinking about them either. But a mother would always worry, it seemed, even when she knew there was no need.

"That's why I picked Zenshi," he said simply. Megumi chewed her lip, fighting to hold back a pout. Teru just resumed eating his breakfast. "They follow a—"

"One of the latest victims was a Zenshi first-year," Megumi pressed on. It'd been a long while since the Zenshi student had been identified, but the fact that Teru still insisted on Zenshi never let the argument die, for lack of better term.

"And I think they'll buff security this year," Teru fired back. Before his mother could try again, he added, "I have it in writing, Mama. Your promise is legally binding. Probably."

Megumi's face scrunched up, a pained look overcoming her. Part of Teru felt bad, seeing her so distraught over this, but he wasn't going to budge on the matter. Megumi and Shushu had made their own mistakes in the past, both for different reasons, and Teru would be damned if he didn't do the same on his own terms. A Quirk like theirs had its limits, and he didn't want to keep its brief use to accessorising and attracting attention. He looked down at his food, pausing mid-bite, before he heaved a sigh and reached out for his mother's other hand still atop the table.

Two pale hands, one with a shimmer of mint green and the other of blue and gold, interlaced their fingers. Despite the strain that came with reaching across the table, half-out of his chair, Teru didn't struggle to keep his grip on his mother's hand.

Megumi looked like she was trying not to complain, not to nag further, as she stared at her son's hand. "Is it so wrong to be scared?" she said instead.

"Of course not," Teru told her. Megumi's blue and gold fingers gripped him tighter. "But you have to remember I'm ready for the responsibility that comes with my choice. And besides," he added, hoping the more playful tone he took on eased her worries, "worst case, I come back home having failed the entrance exam."

Hope blossomed across her face. "Then… Then you'd consider culinary school?"

"Baking," he corrected her. "And there's not much else I'm good enough at, so I may as well."

That was what Megumi needed to hear, it seemed. She rose from her chair and moved to his side of the table, planting a kiss on his forehead and thanking him. Teru watched his mother sit back down and resume eating her breakfast. Ever so slowly, her other arm emerged from the apron and sat comfortably by her plate.

As Teru finished his own meal, dishes stacked and ready to be taken to the sink, Megumi asked him, "Can you wake your sister before you head out? She'll sleep through half the day if she's not up soon."

He gave her a mock salute and took the stairs up to his room two-at-a-time. Waking Shushu was never a problem for Teru. She may have had the boneless ness of a wet noodle every morning, but something like that was nothing to an annoying younger sibling.

And annoying he was of a morning. Teru kicked down the door to their shared room with a loud, "Shu-nee. Breakfast."

From under the large pile of blankets on the bottom bunk came a groan. Teru wasted no time grabbing those blankets and yanking them off the bed entirely. Shushu, curled in a ball on the mattress, let out an indignant shout over the sudden cold air on her. When she didn't immediately get up in search of warmth, Teru began rocking her back and forth.

"Shuuuuuu-nee!" he all but yelled. "If you don't get up, I'll miss my train!"

"Leave me be," she groaned into her pillow. "You don't need me for the exam."

"Mama's orders." He stuck one of his index fingers in his mouth. "Spit in your ear in T-minus ten—"

Like a switch was flipped, Shushu burst out of bed and towered over her brother. Her eyes were wide, her hair scraggly and all over the place; but she was out of bed, just as their mother had asked.

It never got easier, seeing the large, jagged craters along Shushu's arms and neck. Teru forced himself not to stare as they both got dressed. Worse than the scars were the remnants of her last Quirk usage—going on a year now, he counted to himself. The amethysts that had became a permanent part of her skin still glistened softly under the light, and the purple shimmer to her flesh was more intense around them.

Teru was dressed in half of his middle school's uniform, a pair of trousers from the local clothing store replacing the other half. Shushu was already in one of her numerous turtlenecks and staring at the ribbon left on the coat hanger with him. She didn't dare say a word until Teru forwent it entirely, favouring a more casual look to go with his mismatched uniform.

"What's the game plan, hero?" Shushu asked with a yawn as they both left the room. Teru's bag had been packed the night before, ready to take out the door in case he slept in.

Teru shrugged. "Don't break something," he tried.

"That's a start."

He bid his mother and sister goodbye shortly after. Teru stared ahead at the front gate to their house, at the path ahead of him. The door was shut behind him, the silence of the morning all he had to listen to. He was certain by now that Megumi would go back to her worrisome self and direct it at Shushu.

Teru sucked in a deep breath. He looked down at one of his hands, turning it over in front of his face, and let his eyes slide shut.

It was shameful to admit, but he worried too. He worried about proving someone right, about proving _Shiichi_ right. About the words, "You'll just be a cautionary tale," coming to fruition.

But, he thought as he slowly opened his eyes again, Teru was stubborn. He would just have to work smarter rather than harder, overcome the roadblocks with his usual petty stubbornness. It was how he overcame his middle school refusing to change his name, and it was how he overcame his mother's exhausting concerns. He learned from Megumi and Shushu's mistakes—never overestimate your capabilities, never forcibly pry the stones from your skin.

He turned his hand over a final time. Teru watched as the mint shimmer to his skin intensified, as the tips of his fingers slowly turned to a stone of the same colour and spread like a sickness down to his knuckles. Teru watched with a dull expression as his phosphophyllite skin came to a halt at his wrist, his expression barely changing as he tapped each finger against his thumb. Almost as soon as he had tested his mobility, the phosphophyllite began to harden and change colour—to the amethyst that scarred his sister's skin.

Teru learned from their mistakes. Any he made in his own life would at least be an example to subsequent members of their family. The amethyst vanished, his skin returning to its pale mint complexion, and Teru took his first step on his journey to Zenshi Academy.


	3. 02: The Trial of Zenshi

**Still not an update with a character list, but more an update with the Zenshi exam/a pov from a second-year! I'm also posting this to give a heads up that I've received a LOT of female characters as well as characters with white/silver/grey hair, plus characters admitted through recommendation. So if you're interested in sending still, subs are still open till March 17th and those listed are what I already have a lot of. Otherwise, it's been super difficult picking some of the characters so far. I even wanted to have one make a cameo, but even picking just one was too difficult lol**

**That said, lemme know what you think of the NPCs in this chapter! I'm looking forward to the guesses of Quirks among the Zenshi students ;)**

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**02 - The Trial of Zenshi**

"Look at them all come in!"

"Definitely a smaller crowd than when we applied, though."

"Yeah, but this is still enough to prove we're not done yet! We've still got interest from all these middle schoolers!"

"Some of them probably just chose the school because it's closest…"

"Stop tryna ruin my fun, Keue-kun." Ichigo—no, Neapolitan, Usamaru reminded himself when he glanced at the girl in her hero garb—puffed out her cheeks at the smaller boy. It was often at times like this that the class presidents of 2-A and 3-A clashed, a realist trying to keep an optimist grounded.

Usamaru looked back up at the screen in front of them. Neapolitan was right to say that this was proof of the school's fight for life, but his class president wasn't wrong either. Usamaru remembered being overwhelmed by how many other applicants he had to compete with, some coming from all the way across the country just to be part of a future hero team. But this was similar to the smaller crowds of applicants his homeroom teacher described during their first meeting. Similar to Zenshi's minor appeal among the public, who were simply testing the waters those first few years.

"I'm not ruining anyone's fun!" Ursa shouted up at his senior. "I'm trying to be as rational as possible!"

Neapolitan split into two, Strawberry falling backwards as Neapolitan caught her. The position was not unlike a tango move. "No fun!" both of them shouted back.

"Ichigo-chan," Impact Event sighed, shaking her head, "let's try to be serious here. You're the one who asked the headmaster for this, remember?"

Both of them groaned, but nonetheless Neapolitan reduced herself to one. Her cheeks were still puffed out, an obvious pout on her face, but it seemed her classmate's words brought some sense to her. Usamaru couldn't be gladder. An excited Ichigo was a difficult Ichigo.

Usamaru watched the students take their seats along each row, some sticking to groups that obviously came from the same middle schools while others radiated lone wolf personalities through the screen. Normally Usamaru wouldn't take much notice of other students around him, assuming each and every one of them had their own tricks up their sleeves. But he found himself reaching for Ursa's fluffy brown capelet and giving it a short tug as he counted the students who caught his eye.

Ursa moved closer to him, giving him a polite, "What is it, Wonderland?"

Usamaru pointed up at the screens with one hand, then stuck out one of his rabbit feet and pointed to it with the other. Ursa looked between him and the screens for a moment, making sure to pinpoint the exact message his classmate was trying to convey.

"Ah, excellent catch!" One of Ursa's large brunet buns unwound itself, the hair reaching over and petting Usamaru on the head approvingly. "We don't normally get this many applicants with mutation Quirks! 'Specially animal-based ones."

"You two are in Site No. 2, right?" Impact Event pushed past Neapolitan. She stood far enough from Ursa to allow his hair room if it unwound itself from its other bun. Compared to the two small boys, she was a giant—but at least she wasn't as tall as Skathi. Usamaru shuddered at the thought of looking up at an almost eight foot tall human more than once a week.

"We are. There's a high chance we'll get some of them in our area," Ursa replied. Impact Event nodded as she crossed her arms. "Wonderland and I have a method we use for Quirks like that."

Divide and conquer, essentially. Nothing special when compared to some of the methods he'd seen their seniors come up with.

The lights in the auditorium dimmed, each applicant in their seats and the teacher in charge of explaining the rules already walking towards the podium. Usamaru reached up for one of the mechanical ears on the side of his head and pushed the heart-shaped button at its centre. The digital visor flickered to life in front of his eyes, tinting his world a pleasant shade of pink and immediately connecting him to one of the communication lines the students were set to use.

Skathi's voice came through in an instant. "_Students in charge of Site No. 1, take position._"

Usamaru pressed the diamond button of his other earpiece, and Skathi's message played aloud for others to hear. Some of the students from 2-B and 3-A began filtering out of the room at the command.

"So it begins," Ursa muttered. He fixed his costume almost obsessively before he turned for the crowd behind them. "Site No. 2 heroes! Battle plan during the trip to the exam area!"

From the back of the room, the only member from 3-A in their group—Kuuya-kun—shouted back, "Yes, boss!"

Almost as an afterthought at the response, Ursa went on, "Except Kuuya-kun. You go early and connect to Wonderland's line so we can keep contact without disrupting anyone's Quirks."

Kuuya-kun let out a self-defeating laugh. "How cruel, Kuma-chan," he whined. Nonetheless he made his way to the elevator.

A few more students had tuned into the channel Skathi addressed them on, leaving Usamaru with a little less to worry about once his group was called into action. Quite a number of their class reached out and gave him a pat on the head as he walked past; were Usamaru not familiar with them and the futility that came with protesting, he'd have delivered a hard kick with both his feet to each of them. The elevator ride was quick and far from crowded. The size of their group made Usamaru wonder if Neapolitan's plan was truly as innovative as she thought. Skilled as they were, four hero course students were still prone to being overwhelmed by numbers.

Kuuya-kun relayed his destination to Usamaru. He pressed the diamond button again to broadcast him to the rest of their group.

"We separate into smaller groups," Ursa commanded. "Compensate for our weaknesses and follow strategies that work best with each other. Wonderland and I work best with the element of surprise. Anyone else have a preference they want to air?"

"Karin-chan and I have complementary Quirks," a boy from 3-B piped up. The girl he was referring to was from 2-B, and though Usamaru didn't know them personally, he knew their Quirks. They'd pose a formidable problem for the applicants.

Ursa nodded. "I'll make sure to send any I catch your way, then."

"_I'm at the site, Kuma-chan. We got an urban jungle with a big tower at the centre._"

"Understood. Kuuya-kun, scout the area for more vantage points and send the coordinates to Wonderland."

"_Right away, boss._"

As Ursa went on with his planning, dividing them into smaller groups, the call for the third site's students was made.

* * *

He turned the badge over in his hands idly. It was the size of his palm and had a black screen within its metal casing, nothing on display just yet as the last of the applicants filtered into the auditorium. Not every seat was filled, a sorry sight compared to the stories Teru had heard of the budding teams who would apply together, and it was becoming clear that some people sitting towards the back—much like himself—were going to have more leg room.

Almost as though the thought passed by, someone shuffled behind him and took the chair three spots to his right. It was the closest someone had sat to him, which was nothing short of a surprise. All through middle school he'd be fawned over as a pretty boy, appealing to the more superficial people around him. But here, everyone was too focused on themselves. It was odd. Different, for certain.

Heroics really was a whole different world to civilian life, huh?

"Kousaki-san?"

Teru dropped his badge at the sound of the voice behind him. He didn't think someone would be able to sneak up on him all the way in the back row, but the girl that entered his view had apparently done just that. Her uniform was the same as his own, only much more neatly put together and whole; he couldn't quite recognise her at first, but then she planted her hands on the desk in front of him and beamed. The skin of her hands were covered in faded red streaks—the marks that Teru had learned in middle school were all over her body and linked, for lack of better term, to her Quirk.

"K—Keima-chan?" he stuttered. He hadn't heard of anyone else in his year level applying to Zenshi like him. They all had their sights set higher, aiming for UA and Shiketsu.

Keima Tsuna beamed down at him like she'd been delivered the best news possible. Neither had been in the same class during middle school, but their mutual friends often led to them running into each other more often than not. Not that he minded. Tsuna was nice enough to be around and always seemed to brighten the room whenever she entered.

"I knew it!" Tsuna skipped to the chair next to him and parked herself without a second thought. She leaned on the desk with a giggle. "I heard Tsume-san was fuming over someone else applying for Zenshi, but I never thought it'd be you!"

Teru couldn't help flinching. Of course Shiichi would complain to everyone around him that Teru had ignored his "advice". He was at least glad that he hadn't been named—their fight before Teru severed all ties with Shiichi probably left him too bitter to even say the smaller boy's name.

"No idea why he'd be so mad, though," Tsuna went on, leaning on one of her fists as her free hand pulled her badge from her bag. "I didn't know you that well, but Mika-chan always said you were no pushover. Maybe Tsume-san is jealous."

Controlling, among other things. But not jealous. Teru would laugh himself into the hospital if he had to watch Shiichi refute a claim like that.

Teru cleared his throat and picked his badge back up. He resumed turning it over in his hands. "What about you?" he tried. Tsuna hummed, prompting him to go on. "You're aiming for Zenshi?"

She nodded. "Love the idea of being a hero, hate the idea of working solo," she told him. The doors to the auditorium were closed and the lights above them dimmed. "Plus, my Quirk would be _much_ more helpful here than anywhere else."

Finally they were plunged into darkness, a single spotlight at the front of the room lighting up a podium. The screen behind it flickered to life, casting a weak blue glow against the applicants in each row. Teru looked down at his badge—which, like the screen, had flickered on and began displaying the last thing he expected: His application details.

Teru found momentary glee that Zenshi had used the name on his application form rather than his records from middle school. He was so caught up that he almost didn't notice Tsuna lean closer to him and hold her badge beside his own for comparison.

"Darn," she muttered. "Different exam sites." Before Teru could ask what she meant, she leaned even closer to get a better look at his badge on its own. "It's Teruki, now? Man, and Tsume-san made such a fuss over it not suiting you. Starting to think he has an ego when it comes to you."

"I… wouldn't be surprised," Teru said slowly. Calling it an ego was probably the most watered down version of it, he thought as she leaned back into her chair proper. Definitely a shorter description than the truth, at least. "What'd you mean by an exam site?"

Murmurs broke out from the rows below them. Teru and Tsuna both turned for the front, Tsuna giving him a wink that promised his question would be answered soon as they did so. A willowy figure walked across the stage, to the podium, and Teru once again struggled to put a name to the face. Getting into the hero business was one thing, but he didn't have the commitment to remember _every_ hero currently active in Japan. He could barely remember the top five on his worse days.

The murmurs didn't die down as the hero—clad in a white form-fitting suit and the hood raised, half of her face obscured by what looked to be a scarf—came to a halt at the podium and watched the crowd with a blank stare. In fact, the muttering went on as though she never even came to a stop.

An innocent question: "Isn't she the one dating the Number Two hero?"

A disappointed sigh: "She looks so plain…"

An indignant scoff: "He and Creati look better together, if you ask me."

Teru couldn't help getting in on the whispering, leaning close to Tsuna as he asked her, "Who is she?"

Tsuna shrugged. "Poltergirl. You ever hear about that Hero Academy that got shut down after a single year? She was from its heroics course."

A slender hand reached up to tug at the scarf around Poltergirl's face. Teru blinked as she slowly pulled back the hood of her costume, and the snow white hair that he saw blended almost perfectly with her suit. He brought his own fingers up to his own silver locks, absently remembering that, when Poltergirl had been his age, hair their colour wasn't as common as it was now.

The first words the woman spoke were a scathing remark aimed at the gossiping applicants. "If Zenshi measured its applicants on their ability to exchange juvenile insults," she announced, voice clear and flat, "a third of you would have passed right here and now. Alas."

The screen behind her changed as silence settled over the room. Tsuna had clamped a hand over her mouth during Poltergirl's opening statement, struggling to hold back giggles as someone in the third row sank so low into their seat that they almost dropped beneath the desk. Teru was sure they had called her too plain for the Number Two hero. Poltergirl resumed speaking as the screen began displaying 2D images of the badges that had been handed out to each applicant upon entry.

"I welcome you all to Zenshi Academy," she said. "Our school is young compared to the more prominent ones, and with recent events it is truly inspiring to see so many of you still expressing desire to enrol."

She gestured to the screen. "You've all been handed a badge with a monitor rather than a simple card with your information upon arrival. I'm sure you've heard stories about Zenshi's entrance exams and prepared for some of the more likely scenarios, but this year we have a _special_ kind of exam. If you would all please observe the screens of your badges for a moment."

Teru looked down at his own. It still looked the same as before, but very soon it flashed and displayed the information just a tad differently. Gone was his middle school's name and Quirk, and instead there were three dots underneath a section that said, "Exam Site No. 4". One green, one yellow, one red. It was like a reverse traffic light.

"The dots on your badge are indicative of your score during the exam. Should your badge enter the 'green zone', your score will be considered high among all applicants at that moment in time." As she said this, Teru's badge flashed green. "Yellow is indicative of an average score. This does not necessarily mean failure, as only so many students can be in the 'green zone' at a time." His badge flashed yellow. "And finally, if your badge enters the 'red zone', it is a sign you are dangerously close to failure." His badge finally flashed red. Teru could feel a lump forming in his throat. That sure was a way to motivate the more desperate applicants, he supposed.

"Saves me the math," Tsuna mumbled.

The screen behind Poltergirl changed. It showed a generic person with a badge on their chest, and then three others in a group with badges of their own. "Your practical exam is similar to a game of cat and mouse, only both sides play both roles simultaneously. The existing students at Zenshi have been divided by exam site and will be pitted against you. You have two goals during this exam."

The generic person on their own switched to a running position as the group, using random Quirks, gave chase. "You are to defend your own badge until the exam concludes. If your badge is not in your possession by the end of the exam, you automatically fail."

The screen changed once more, this time showing the individual snatching a badge from one of the group members. "Your second goal is to keep the students' own badges away from them until the end of the exam. You will be awarded points by staff overseeing the exam behind the scenes."

So not only did they have to keep their own badges safe, but the applicants also had to try and steal the badges the Zenshi students had. Teru weighed his options as the idea of facing against trained mini-heroes flickered through his mind. If they weren't all tanks, maybe he could manage it. But there was no clue as to who the students they were facing were. It wasn't like Zenshi students made headlines like UA students did—not unless they died, at least.

Poltergirl went on, "Both our second- and third-year heroics course students will be participating. You'll be granted ten minutes to prepare for your practical exam. Don't worry about injuries with the written exam following immediately after—a number of our general and support students have Quirks best suited for emergencies."

For a moment everyone assumed she was done. But when the lights didn't brighten and the screen didn't dim, Teru felt the pit in his stomach get heavier. There was more, and the way Poltergirl suddenly smirked as she looked over the applicants only made him dread the final piece of information for their test.

The screen changed to display each exam site, and underneath each site were busts of the students they were to face in their hero costumes. Teru looked down at his badge, remembering he was at Exam Site No. 4, and then back up at the screen. One student in the lineup, Go Mamoru, had a star next to his name. Every batch had just one student that was starred, now that he thought about it.

"As added incentive, courtesy of our very own Skathi," Poltergirl announced, actually sounding gleeful over the news, "each batch of students has one of the highest ranked in their department among them. Consider these students your 'golden ticket', so to speak. Having their badge in your possession come the end of the exam is a guaranteed acceptance to Zenshi Academy."

Oh, how the applicants expressed their shock at that piece of news. Even Teru couldn't help letting out a loud, "_What_?" as Poltergirl dismissed them all and began walking out of the room. Some applicants hesitated to so much as move as the lights slowly came back on, and it wasn't until the screen flickered off that Teru finally mustered up the energy to glance at Tsuna.

She was tapping away at her badge, and pretty soon she was turning it to face Teru with a grin. One of the student busts, complete with the name Odoriba Usamaru, was on display. This was the top scoring student assigned to her exam site—a hero with a rabbit theme, complete with mechanical ears that glowed red. Teru stared at his picture, then at Tsuna.

"I'm gonna go straight for him," Tsuna declared. She pinned the badge to her uniform with an almost proud flair. "No way he's getting away from me. I spent all my vacation practicing catching birds!"

"Keima-san," Teru said weakly, "he's a rabbit, not a bird."

She nodded. "But he's bigger and slower than a bird. I got this."

They both began their exit, sticking close out of the need for familiarity. As confident as Tsuna projected herself to be, Teru could see the anxiety in her eyes every time she glanced at the other applicants. He may not have known her well, not like his friends and family, but he'd seen the look on his sister's face enough to know Tsuna was comparing herself to others around them. Was she insecure, he wondered? She didn't seem the type. But then again, it was usually the most vocal about their confidence that were the most insecure.

Once the sun hit their faces again, Tsuna nudged Teru with her elbow and fished her phone out of her bag. "Why don't get exchange contacts?" she asked. They moved to the side, away from the remaining applicants still spilling out from the auditorium. "Even if we both get in and stay in the dorms, who knows how often we'll run into each other?"

Teru grabbed his own phone and shrugged. It sounded fair. Tsuna was a pretty nice person so far, so even if he was reduced to leaning out to professionally bake, he'd still have someone he could call a friend supporting him.

"I'll add you in as Terurin."

"Teru."

"Teru-chi."

"_Teru_."

"Teru-chama?"

Teru sucked in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Teru, take it or leave it."

Tsuna huffed out her cheeks and complied, omitting her cutesy addition to his name from her contacts. He'd been hoping to grow out of the nicknames now that he was going on to high school. Maybe Tsuna would be merciful and never call him such things aloud. It wasn't like he'd said she could, either.

Finally they parted. Tsuna disappeared to change and head for Exam Site No. 2, and Teru did the same. As he slowly approached Exam Site No. 4, he looked over his badge and tried to evaluate Go Mamoru's picture. If he was the highest ranked student against Teru's exam group, then there was a safe assumption that ranking didn't just come from intellect.

He ran his hand down his face and groaned. He hoped that Mamoru didn't have a strength-based Quirk—and if he did, Teru _prayed_ he wouldn't have to deal with him. As far as Teru was concerned, the guarantee into Zenshi was firmly on his "do not engage" list.


	4. 03: Exam Site No 2

**So ya boy would've had this up on the 17th of March as intended had I not gotten the flu _one week before I was due for my shots_. Which, even then, had been booked _early_. A constitution like mine shouldn't be legal.**

**Anyway, I wanna use this A/N to address a guest review I got that rudely demanded I update. Please understand that fanfiction is first and foremost a hobby, and that chapters can take time when IRL gets in the way - like the flu. God especially the flu. So I just wanna say to this guest reviewer, if I find out your character made the cut, they _will_ be removed from the cast posthaste :) gws**

**That aside, god I hope this came out okay. There's two more exam chapters after this and I have zero clue if they'll be better or worse than this lol**

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**03 - Exam Site No. 2**

The group outside of Exam Site No. 2 was smaller than she'd expected. Hero schools always had droves of students applying, as far as she knew, but even Emiko—born and raised in the countryside, comparatively smaller than the bustle of the city—could tell this was a minimal turnout. The lack of competition seemed to invigorate everyone, though, and Emiko couldn't blame them. Not only were their chances higher, but there was a golden ticket waiting for them.

She bent down and touched her toes with a grunt. Emiko kept a close eye on her tail, hugging it close to her legs in the hopes of avoiding bumping anyone. As big as it was, it still felt uncomfortable when anyone else touched it—even if by accident. Everyone around her was doing the same, completing their own stretches as the minutes passed them by. There was a certain tension in the air she'd felt once before: A tension that came with the fear of failure, even with hopes sky high.

There were a few applicants with mutation Quirks like her own. Closest to her was a boy with fox features, tail and all, with unruly red hair bouncing in time with his excited steps. He hovered near a blond boy, and together they oversaw the competition with a few chuckles exchanged between them. Every so often, Emiko noticed, their gazes would wander to the standout of their group.

Six and a half feet tall, two small black horns on her forehead, and eyes so strange that Emiko wondered what they looked like up close. She was a fighter, that was for sure, and Emiko had no doubt that this girl would be tough to beat. The boys conversing with each other seemed to know it as well.

Emiko must've been staring this time. The horned girl turned her head by just a fraction, pausing her hamstring stretch, and met Emiko's eye. Intimidating as she probably was, Emiko couldn't help smiling and giving her a wave. Not a nervous or aggressive one like some of the applicants around her would, but a friendly, warm greeting that barely got a reaction from the girl. She just blinked at Emiko and returned to her stretches.

Maybe she wasn't social.

Emiko shrugged and turned away, only to be met with the sight of someone else approaching. Emiko raised her brows at the other girl, at the corpse-like pallor to her and the visible black veins all over her. Despite the bags under her eyes, she was smiling widely and approached Emiko with the same warmness she'd directed at the horned girl. Emiko returned the smile before checking the time on her badge. Five minutes until they went in.

Contrary to her deathly appearance, the pale girl was active and energetic once she was at Emiko's side. "You excited?" she asked in place of a greeting.

Emiko gave her a half-smile and nodded. "Nervous, too," she admitted. "But definitely excited."

Her response elicited a laugh, the girl's smile slowly easing into that of nerves. "Glad it's not just me," she muttered. She held out a hand to Emiko. "I'm Fuhai—Suru Fuhai."

Emiko took her hand and gave it a shake. "Mori Emiko," she replied.

"This is probably weird to ask," Fuhai went on, gripping Emiko's hand tighter as her other slowly joined them, "but do you want to work together for the exam? You don't have to if you don't want to!" Almost as though realising she'd been clinging to Emiko, Fuhai dropped her hand and let out a short, nervous chuckle. "I just figured, since the school is big on teamwork and forming groups…"

Emiko blinked. Huh, she hadn't thought of that. She aimed for Zenshi with the knowledge that, upon graduation, she would have found others who would work with her as heroes, but Emiko had truly forgotten to consider if the exam would allow teamwork. The existing students would already be cooperating to make them fail, so it would make sense if the applicants retaliated in kind, right?

Besides, she'd feel more comfortable with someone to back her up. As offensive as her Quirk looked, and as much as she could try to use her fire breath, having a partner would boost both their chances significantly. It would be no different to teaming up with her brothers for chores.

Emiko grinned. "I'm down," she told Fuhai. The girl perked back up again. "We'll watch each others' backs and get through the exam with _someone's_ badge between us!"

The alliance was decided mere seconds before their badges let out little blips, signalling the start of the exam. The large doors leading to Site No. 2 eased open. Ahead of them waited an urban jungle, not unlike the city that surrounded Zenshi and had proved to make Emiko feel like a fish out of water. She glanced at Fuhai's badge, pinned to the front of her exercise clothes, and saw the monitor safely in the yellow zone. As they began running in with the crowd, a check of her own badge showed the same.

"Do we want the golden ticket?" Fuhai asked as she kept with Emiko's pace. It was hard to run while being conscientious of her tail. The last thing she needed was to be thrown off by her tail being knocked around.

"The one that looks like a bunny, yeah?" Emiko shrugged. "I don't know if I'll be fast enough if it's more than a theme."

Fuhai nodded. "Then what about sticking to defense?" she suggested. "I'm good at keeping people away."

Well, Emiko was strong enough to fend off anyone who broke Fuhai's defense. It wouldn't hurt to stay on the defensive. "Sounds like a plan. I'll knock some sense into anyone who gets past you."

The crowd ahead came to a sudden halt. Fuhai and Emiko crashed into a few who came to quicker stops, and very soon they were being locked in place by the applicants behind them. Emiko squirmed, the crowding suffocating her and forcing her to hide her tail. She tried to look over the shoulders of the ones in front of her as Fuhai slowly inched her way towards her, but the other applicants were taller than her. All she could see were the tops of the smaller buildings around them—but that was all she needed to see to understand why they'd all stopped.

"Good morning, wannabes!" boomed an almost childish voice. There was a hint of a lisp to it, sounding like how someone barely past their toddler stage would speak. Emiko's gaze flitted to the building to her left, where two small forms stood. One was dressed in red and black, his long rabbit legs out on display and a screen visor over his eyes—Usamaru, she thought as the image of him on the badge flashed through her mind. The other was dressed in brown, taking on a teddy bear's appearance and gesturing arrogantly with the large bear paws he wore on his hands. His hair was up in two large buns, and Emiko watched with a sinking heart as the strands began to unfurl themselves. "And welcome to Zenshi's exam of a lifetime!"

To punctuate the bear boy's point, his hair shot down at random points in the crowd. Fuhai finally pulled Emiko to her side and avoided some strands in the knick of time, but the others around them were not as fortunate. Emiko watched in awe as the bear boy flung applicants through the air, all scattered in every direction of the urban jungle. She even saw the blond that had been with the fox, struggling against the strands that grasped his middle before finally he was slung towards the city centre.

"I am Ursa, and it will be my _pleasure_," the student finished, "to see you all struggle! Those of you with the mettle, you're welcome to give chase to Wonderland and take his badge."

And then Usamaru—his hero name was Wonderland?—burst into a sprint. He leapt from the building's edge and landed harshly on the ground. He paused, almost as though taunting the thinned crowd; he bounced on his feet, his oversized gauntlets glowing the same red as his earpieces, and then with a powerful jump he sailed through the air and into the open window of the closest tower. The group that followed him, thundering past Emiko and Fuhai and activating their Quirks in unison, was through the door and the first floor windows within seconds.

Now there was less than two dozen left at the beginning. Emiko's heart pounded in her chest, still reeling from the surprise attack, and all she could do was watch Fuhai's badge. The yellow light flickered for a moment, and when it slid into the green zone Fuhai's logic made so much more sense. She'd defended Emiko from an attack, kickstarting their team effort and resistance against Ursa, and she'd been awarded points for it.

Emiko gripped Fuhai's arm to steady herself. When she was met with those baggy eyes, she gave the girl a grin and said, "Let's do our best."

Ursa fled not long after, calling out to someone called Kuuya-kun. Emiko went into high alert as the boy let his hair carry him towards the centre of the site. The two dozen applicants in the area spread apart, some remaining in duos while others kept to themselves to prepare for Kuuya-kun's appearance.

He didn't show.

Sticking close, Emiko and Fuhai slowly ventured further into the urban jungle. Little by little, the rest of the applicants followed. They weren't going to let Kuuya-kun surprise them like Ursa and Wonderland had.

* * *

It hadn't been enough.

Lyoko struggled to keep his vision straight as the air battered his face. He'd been caught in such a tight grip and had felt all that pain, but it hadn't been enough to break free. It hadn't been enough to reinforce himself, to prepare for the inevitable crash landing that would follow. His heart raced and raced, his mind whirling. He called for every ounce of distress in him to strengthen his body, to properly begin mending the inevitable injuries if he couldn't land safely.

He brought his hand to his mouth and sank his teeth into his flesh for added measure. Lyoko felt the power course through him, strengthening him and heightening his senses—

Strands of hair, tough as steel, snaked around his wrist and snatched his hand from his mouth. Lyoko dangled helplessly from the grip as his body came to a sudden halt. He was still nowhere near the ground. Lyoko followed the strands of hair to the source, to a slowly approaching Ursa held afloat from the edge of a nearby apartment balcony by one of his pigtails.

"My, my," he sighed, looking almost disappointed with Lyoko. Lyoko did his best to break the grip on his wrist, tearing at the strands with his free hand. How the hell was hair this strong?

More strands shot out, this time keeping both his wrists pinned together. Lyoko thrashed about, panic rising. Distress was good, he thought as Ursa pulled him towards the building. He could convert it—but if Ursa overpowered him before he reached that point…

"I said I wanted to make you struggle," Ursa chided him. More strands of hair reached for his exercise clothes, where his badge was pinned. They deftly unclipped the badge and soon it was pinned beside Ursa's own. Lyoko watched with horror as the screen flashed red. "I didn't want autocannibalism. That's just perverted, if you ask me."

Lyoko dared a smile. It was a strained, nervous one, but he was determined to not show the full extent of his panic over Ursa's actions. "I'm much more vanilla than that, I swear," he laughed. Ursa scowled.

"Another funnyman," the small boy scoffed. The hair around his wrists tightened, as though ready to throw Lyoko back into the air once more. "I'll take pleasure in keeping you out of my school."

He was prepared for the worst. He was prepared for more wind in his face and more panic. He was not, however, prepared for Ursa's hair to suddenly shoot out towards the road below. Ursa wasn't expecting it, either, and his grip on Lyoko loosened as the strands were pulled along with the others. Ursa dropped himself onto the balcony and gripped the railing with his bear paw gloves; there was pure rage on his face as both his and Lyoko's gazes followed the hair.

The silver-haired boy, all alone in the middle of the road, smirked back up at the enraged Ursa. His hands were outstretched, the hair attracted to them like flies to honey. As the boy pulled his hands back with a grunt, Ursa lurched and lost control of more and more strands.

"Thought so," Lyoko heard the boy say. "Your hair's got metal in it, right?"

Realisation dawned on Ursa's face. Lyoko watched him for a moment, casting a quick glance at the boy on the ground again—still he pulled Ursa closer, tugging more and more hair down to the ground. Even the strands on Lyoko's wrists were starting to give.

Lyoko sucked in a breath and sank his teeth into his lip. Pain surged through him, and in an instant it turned to power. Lyoko wrenched his wrists apart with ease now that Ursa's attention was elsewhere, and the sheer force he exuded shattered the length of hair around him. He crashed to the ground without so much as an injury, his enhancement _just_ enough for the reduced distance this time around.

Before either boys could react to Lyoko's escape, he leapt in one bound over to the locks in the silver-haired boy's control. Ursa screeched as Lyoko swung his arms up, hands clasped together; if he could break those strands earlier, then logic dictated the rest were just as fragile under the right amount of pressure.

He swung his arms down, the force tearing through the clumps of hair and leaving a crater in the earth in front of him. Dust kicked up into the air and momentarily hid them from Ursa, the cloud becoming thicker by the minute. Lyoko felt his Quirk begin to slip, the power he'd coursed through himself waning. He looked down at his feet, at the shards of thin metal all over the ground, and felt himself grin.

_That_ was for calling him a pervert. Now all he had to do was get his badge back and narrowly avoid an automatic failure.

A hand grabbed the front of his shirt harshly, a force dragging Lyoko through the dust cloud and into the apartment block. He coughed and gagged, waved his hands in front of his face; when he could see again, the silver-haired boy was pushing him into the cover of the shadows and holding a finger to his lips.

Seconds after the dust settled, Ursa let out an almost demonic howl. The first words out of his mouth were a threat against Lyoko: "_I'll ruin you for breaking my hair!_"

Both Lyoko and the silver-haired boy watched as Ursa crashed to the ground, other applicants forgotten. The small student was solely interested in finding his newfound nemesis, it seemed, and Lyoko felt a tinge of relief when the boy's murderous intent sped off in the direction of the central tower a block away.

Lyoko dropped to the ground with a heavy sigh. "Dude really likes his hair," he wheezed.

"How tough was it?"

Lyoko looked up at the boy with raised brows. "I mean, tough is probably what they're aiming for with the exam—"

"The _hair_. How hard was it to break?"

Oh. "I… don't know? My Quirk enhances strength and speed and all that, and I was using it when I broke free…" Lyoko rubbed his wrists, only just now thinking to check for open wounds. Ursa had been remarkably gentle, if his hair was metal and he'd held Lyoko so tightly. There was hardly any blood—just angry red welts. "But I used a lot less than I expected to. Less than I needed to break my fall."

The silver-haired boy brought a hand to his chin and hummed. "Ferrochrome?" he muttered to himself. "Hm… There'd be more give if it was. Tungsten would be too brittle. Titanium, maybe?"

It seemed like he was having a hard time figuring out what Ursa's hair was made of. Lyoko wondered if the exact properties were important to his Quirk, like if some types of metal were more difficult to attract than others. Lyoko looked back down at his hands, at the injuries left behind. He couldn't feel them, but if he could get back to that level of pain from earlier, then maybe he could break more of that hair and get his badge back…

And then the idea struck him.

"Uh, hey!" he blurted out. The silver-haired boy looked down at him blankly. "Your Quirk controls metal, right?"

He got a shrug in return. "More like repels and attracts it. Among a few other finer details," he said. "Why?"

"Our badges have a metal casing," Lyoko said. "Instead of pulling Ursa's hair, what if I distract him and break pieces while you take his badge. And maybe mine…" he added in a mumble.

For a moment his companion considered it. Slowly his expression turned to one of satisfaction, pleased with the idea more than what he'd probably been thinking of.

"Alright," he said slowly. "Saves having to get too close for now."

Lyoko jumped to his feet with a grin. "Great! Can't wait to work with ya, uh…"

"Hagane Tetsuya."

"Hagane-kun, then! I'm Atashi Lyoko!" He began taking off his shoes, another idea hitting him. If Tetsuya could repel and attract metals, "_among a few finer details_", then generating a continuous source of minor discomfort would be easy for Lyoko. "Can you bring those pieces of metal from outside over here real quick?"

Tetsuya stared down at him with furrowed brows.

"It's my Quirk," Lyoko went on. "I want you to stick some of those shards in my feet so I can use the same amount of strength as last time."

"You really are a pervert." Tetsuya still crept towards the doors, hands outstretched and searching for the pieces of hair. Lyoko frowned.

"It's my _Quirk_!" he insisted.

"Yes, yes," Tetsuya said blandly. "Whatever you say, Pervert-san."

* * *

No… No, no, no… Did he seriously lose him? He was keeping up so well! How could he have lost a bunny? Him—a _fox_!?

Jun sped through the halls of the building with gritted teeth. He'd followed Wonderland through four blocks now, already on his fifth complex and making his way towards the top floor. But now Jun had lost all signs of him. He couldn't hear him, let alone see him, and he desperately wished his Quirk allowed him to follow someone's scent. Finding Wonderland would be so much easier if he could…

His easygoing, prankster nature was shoved aside now that he was alone and in a hurry. He'd felt so confident when he'd seen how few people were at the gate entrance, even made small talk with someone who seemed like minded enough to get along with Jun. Now where was he? Separated from his one chance at a friendly alliance to catch the golden ticket and cursing himself for not having as good a nose as he did eyes and ears.

Jun rounded a corner without a second thought, desperate to get to a vantage point and see if he could spot Wonderland from above. There was no way he could've gotten far enough for Jun to give up yet, especially not when he almost matched his speed in the beginning. Wonderland had known, too—Jun saw the look in the older boy's eyes when Jun's hand had grazed his costume, barely missing the badge by a few centimeters. He just had to get to the top floor—

A hard body crashed against his own, Jun knocked back onto the ground with more force than he'd anticipated. He rubbed his nose, jumped to his feet with his heart hoping it was Wonderland, but when his eyes focused again he was met with one of the oddities of the applicant group. The big girl with the horns, and now that he was up close he could actually see how different her eyes were to most other people's: Fiery orange sclera, black irises, and crimson pupils. Combined with her height and horns, Jun couldn't help saying out loud, "Oni?"

The horned girl narrowed her eyes down at him. "Kitsune," she said in return, her tone curt.

Under better circumstances, Jun would laugh at the irony. They really did look like an oni and a kitsune happening upon each other, huh? Ah, but that wasn't important right now! Jun shook his head and slapped his hands on his cheeks, tearing his gaze from the oni girl. If she was here too, then she was his rival for Wonderland's badge! And if she was as strong as she looked—and felt, judging by how much of a brick wall she was when he crashed into her—then Jun had to act fast and find the bunny first.

"Good luck, Oni-chan!" he teased her, sidestepping her faster than he knew she could follow. Jun was ahead of everyone else at the start of the chase, after all! That meant he was faster than her! "Maybe you can snag someone else's badge instead!"

He looked over his shoulder at her, seeing the oni watching him over her own as she turned to follow. Was she assuming he had Wonderland's scent? God, he wished. He didn't have enough time to even figure out what he smelled like. Jun grinned playfully—and then her expression went from blank and stoic to hyper focused and dangerous. His heart leapt into his throat.

Distantly he could hear the rattling of chains. Jun's head whirled back to his front, to the hallway ahead of him. He could barely register the chains bursting through one doorway and getting snagged on the windowsill, let alone the various hooks and blades at the ends of them; all he could see was the Carroll-inspired student speeding through the doorway and deftly avoiding even _more_ chains pursuing him.

Wonderland's eyes flitted from Jun to the oni almost too fast for Jun to realise. The bunny launched himself at Jun, harshly knocking him into the wall and aiming for the oni; Jun watched him slide between the girl's legs and brush his gauntlet against her shirt—her badge, Jun thought! His hand slapped his own shirt, and he wasn't sure why he was surprised his own badge was missing.

Wonderland was behind the oni, and then he was jumping onto her back and harshly kicking her towards Jun. Jun couldn't help the little scream that came out of him as the oni, distressed now, crashed into him and sent them both to the floor in a dogpile.

Wonderland was gone in an instant.

"No!" Jun whined. He struggled under the girl. He had to get the badge back! He'd fail if he didn't!

The rattling of chains became louder, the ones in his peripheral righting themselves as another form entered the room. Jun watched another applicant, another girl, skid to a halt with her own badge still on her shirt. Her score was in the yellow—average—and she was more than a little frazzled.

The chains—originating from her body, Jun realised—began to snake back into her skin and leave long red marks along the pale flesh. She let out a long groan and dropped to her knees dismally.

"I almost had him!" she cried. "I already told Terurin I'd catch him too!"

She was mid-cry when she finally took notice of Jun and the oni, who were already kicking at each other and scrambling to their feet. The oni clicked her tongue and muttered something to herself, but Jun was too overwhelmed by his lack of badge to even ask her to repeat herself. The girl with the chains jumped to her feet as well and sprinted towards them, grabbing them both—Jun with her hands, and the oni with chains that sprouted from her lower back.

"You two!" she cried. "You were running faster than everyone! And I saw the crater you left when you did that hero landing in the last building!"

Jun looked at the oni with wide eyes. She left a _crater_?!

"I'm Tsuna," the girl went on in a rush. She began to drag Jun down the hallway with her, the oni putting up quite the resistance to her chains and their pull. "My Quirk lets me produce and control chains from my body—can you guys work with that? Please tell me you can work with that!"

"My badge…" was all Jun could manage.

"Unhand me!" the oni growled.

"We can work together!" Tsuna insisted. "You can chase Wonderland around and I can fence him in with my chains and Oni-chan can snatch him up!"

"My name is _not_ Oni-chan," the other girl growled again. Given how adamant that Tsuna was with roping them into her idea, Jun was certain that the oni would never be called anything else and Jun would never get his badge back any other way.

* * *

**Fukusaki Kuuya - Hero Name: Kuuya-kun - Quirk: Immunity Boundary  
**_Kuuya is a walking, talking Quirk disabler who can control his range of effect. Anyone within a maximum of a ten meter radius is automatically unable to use their Quirk. It's an ability that Kuuya can't turn off, but he can minimise the AoE to just a few feet when needed._

**Keue Kinujo - Hero Name: Ursa - Quirk: Strong Hair  
**_Kinujo has long hair infused with titanium that he can control by individual strand like limbs. The hair requires special tools to cut, but Kinujo keeps it as long as possible for the sake of extra control and versatility. While strong, each individual strand is brittle under extreme pressure._

**Odoriba Usamaru - Hero Name: Wonderland - Quirk: Rabbit  
**_Usamaru's Quirk is a mutation that presents itself as a pair of long rabbit feet, which unfortunately do nothing to improve his rather short stature. His Quirk grants him natural speed and agility, and with proper planning and execution he can use his feet for offensive capabilities - such as slamming his opponents into each other by launching off of them._

* * *

"I can't use my Quirk!"

"What the hell? Is he like Eraser Head or something?!"

"No fair! Half the kids with mutations got thrown across the site!"

"That was kind of the point," Kuuya-kun laughed as he deftly kicked back another applicant. All around them was evidence of applicants trying to use their Quirks up close, only to have Kuuya-kun's mere existence cancel it out and leave a fizzled out trail in his wake. Emiko and Fuhai could only watch with jaws dropped as the boy in his customised Zenshi uniform seemed to have childish fun with his task.

"Sorry, Mori-san," Fuhai whispered. They were hiding in one of the apartments with a few other applicants who'd fled to lick their wounds. "I can't keep him back if I can't use my Quirk."

Emiko's tail twitched. "It's okay," she said. Unspoken by everyone else was the obvious expectation—that Emiko just hurry the hell up and take Kuuya-kun out with her mutation Quirk. But just rushing in without a plan and just a fist to hit someone with was the worst possible thing she could do. And now that she knew for a fact that teamwork gained her points, she wasn't about to strike out solo yet.

"It's not okay!" a boy nearby hissed. He had a telekinesis Quirk that had fared decently at first, but once he hit Kuuya-kun's range he'd been hit with a punch to the gut and a lost badge. "We're all trying to get his badge and you're just hiding! You're one of the few with a mutation he _can't_ disable and you're just being selfish!"

"That's hardly fair," Fuhai growled at him. He sneered back at her. "Mori-san may have a mutation Quirk but even they have limitations. You're the one being selfish by demanding she do all the work, if you ask me."

Emiko glanced out the window as the bickering went on. Mention of her tail was thrown out, but someone on their side reasoned that not everyone's tails were as strong as Tailman's. Emiko watched as Kuuya-kun dispatched a few more applicants, yet another Quirk fizzling out as they entered his range.

That had to be a few meters, right? Anyone just a few meters away was fine until Kuuya-kun advanced. Maybe if they got far enough out of his range, they'd be able to use their Quirks again?

Kuuya-kun was already collecting badges of those unconscious outside. He was dropping them into the bag dangling from his belt, and he was very pleased with himself as he turned his attention for the apartment everyone was holed up in.

If they could keep him out, they could minimise the amount of applicants who failed…

"Suru-san," Emiko said, cutting off the argument loudly. "I have an idea. I'm gonna try to get him as far from the building as possible. You!"

The telekinetic boy sneered, by acknowledged she was calling to him.

"The minute you can lift something with your Quirk, try to plug the windows and find hiding places so no more of us fail. We don't have to take his badge to pass—just keep our own safe."

The apartments were modelled after real-life buildings, so it was natural that they'd have enough furniture to barricade themselves with. The telekinetic boy nodded and as if obeying a silent order, a few other applicants ran into the other rooms in search of anything useful.

Fuhai tapped her shoulder. Emiko glanced out at Kuuya-kun—now taking the last of the outdoor badges for himself—before looking back at her ally.

"I can run around the outside and fortify the barricade," Fuhai told her. Emiko's brows raised. "My Quirk is like a gas that I can spread around if I move while it's active. He can't enter without hurting himself, and by the time the exam is done it should dissipate."

"That's amazing, Suru-san!"

"I'll need you to hold my badge though. I don't want it to melt. A—And…" Fuhai went red and cleared her throat. "And k—keep anyone from seeing me… M—My clothes don't last long when I use it…"

Ever so slowly, the implication of what Fuhai was saying hit Emiko. Her own face turned red, and she called out in a panic, "Who has a jacket they can spare?"

With not only an extra jacket on her, but also Fuhai's badge pinned next to her own, Emiko hauled herself over the windowsill and stood between a casual Kuuya-kun and the other applicants. Kuuya-kun was fiddling with his belt, pulling pellets from the little compartments that made up its length.

"I thought you wouldn't come out!" he joked. Emiko raised her fists. Kuuya-kun sorted through the pellets like he was picking what flavour candy to eat first. "I think I have a few tricks left to deal with you, though."

"Maybe." Emiko broke into a sprint. Kuuya-kun jumped back, one arm raised to defend his badge, and the other flicked out a pellet at random. Emiko sucked in a deep breath—just in time before the pellet burst, sending a thick white mist up into the air. She could hardly see, but she knew he'd probably try rush her from the front in her shock.

Emiko felt the heat bubble up her throat as she let out the air she'd sucked in. With her eyes squeezed shut and her feet planted firmly on the ground, Emiko let loose what she hoped would be enough fire to push Kuuya-kun back somewhat. The mist vanished in an instant, swallowed by the small burst of flames, but it was very quickly replaced by an explosion of soft foam.

Emiko wiped her face, spotting an equally foamy Kuuya-kun further away from her than she'd intended. He flicked his arms, splattering foam against the road, and smirked at her.

"Told you I have a few tricks," he said.

She could feel her body temperature lowering already. But with the extra jacket on her, she wasn't going to go into sleep mode as soon as she'd anticipated. Emiko took another step forward. Just one more time, she thought. If she could push him back just a _little more_ then the others could barricade themselves and Fuhai could use her Quirk.

Kuuya-kun, still with that casual smile, took another step backwards. Almost as soon as he did, Emiko heard the telekinetic boy shout from inside the apartment complex. Kuuya-kun's expression turned to shock as the sounds of furniture slamming against each window rang through the air.

Emiko took advantage of his shock, sucking in another deep breath. Kuuya-kun's eyes flitted back to her far too late—Emiko let loose as much fire as possible, the blaze still smaller than one would expect from a dragon, and Kuuya-kun was jumping back at the last minute to avoid any burns. He flicked out another pellet, this time causing an explosion of dark smoke that grew thicker as it hit the fire, and dove as far from Emiko as possible.

He was farther from the building than everyone needed to use their Quirks. Far enough that, when Emiko felt the chills set in and prepared for a final display of fire, a chair was able to knock Kuuya-kun through a nearby window at mach speeds.

"We're set!" the telekinetic boy yelled. Emiko nodded, her fingers now numb from the cold. She hobbled over to the window Kuuya-kun had been thrown through and took a quick peek inside. He was unconscious, a small wound on his head from the impact, but otherwise alive. Emiko swallowed a lump in her throat.

Maybe she could take the bag of badges back. Everyone did their best with her plan, so it wasn't fair if some of them still failed, right?

Despite the cries from the other applicants to hurry back over, Emiko pulled herself through the smashed window and tumbled to Kuuya-kun's side. The bag on his belt was looser, a few badges peeking out from its opening. Emiko's sharp teeth chattered against each other as she untied the bag from his belt and instead hung it around her neck.

She was stumbling back out when she saw what Fuhai had done to reinforce their barrier. Green smoke clung to the building's outside, a foul stench coming from it like the smell of death itself. Emiko could see the remnants of Fuhai's clothes trailing along the perimeter, each piece slowly dissolving away into nothing. Emiko trembled, both from the sheer cold she felt and the idea of touching the gas without protection, and she hobbled along the road to the open door waiting for her.

Fuhai called out to her, rounding the corner of the building and shrouded in the gas like a whole new layer of skin. Aside from her clothes rotting away, she herself was unharmed. Emiko felt relief hit her. At least Fuhai's Quirk wouldn't hurt her. Emiko slowed, shrugging off the second jacket, and held it open as Fuhai—slowly deactivating her Quirk the closer she got—dove into it. It was colder, Emiko even more tired than before, but now she had Fuhai to help her into the apartment complex.

As soon as they were in, the other applicants cheering that Emiko had grabbed Kuuya-kun's bag of badges as well, she let sleep take over her.

* * *

This was a bad idea, but it was the best they had. Lyoko knew that, especially since he was the one to propose it, but…

He sucked in a breath as he stood in the middle of the street. Ursa was still looking for him, apparently nearby according to Tetsuya—what a handy Quirk he had—and Lyoko was bouncing on his feet to keep the injuries to the soles coming. He was slowly building up his strength, feeling the enhancement course through him, and he was ready to convert it to speed once Ursa showed his face.

When Tetsuya gave him a thumbs up from across the street, hidden in the shadows by debris left by Ursa's rampage, Lyoko cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Hey, Rapunzel!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Lemme make your haircut even!"

An almighty crash came from Lyoko's right. He startled, literally jumping in the air from the sheer surprise of it all. A rush of air hit him, and then Lyoko was staring at Ursa—Ursa, whose body dangled in the air as his hair held him off the ground, the bangs at the front coiled tightly into two sharp screws.

If looks could kill, he thought as he met Ursa's gaze. But at least this time he was ready.

Ursa charged, consumed by tunnel vision now that he knew Lyoko was in front of him. Lyoko gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The screws of hair reared back, and as soon as Ursa was close enough to strike they shot out at Lyoko almost too fast for him to catch. But catch them he did, the tips of the screws digging into his palms as his fingers dug into their shape.

Lyoko was pushed back, feet skidding along the ground, and Ursa readied two more clusters of hair to strike. Lyoko grinned—more enhancing for him, he thought smugly, and with a loud grunt he turned on his heel and flung Ursa over his shoulder. The hair he was gripping shattered in some areas, digging into his skin and actually drawing blood this time, but seeing Ursa ascend over him and then finally crash to the ground without his hair to break his fall felt satisfying.

Lyoko made a point to not look down at his hands. If he saw the blood now, he'd start to get queasy. Nausea could wait until _after_ he helped Tetsuya get the badges. Or never. Never was good, too.

"Little more off the top?" Lyoko joked. Ursa was on his hands and knees, covered in scrapes from that one throw. Did he rely on his hair more than his own physical strength? Man, and Lyoko thought _he_ was the thrill-seeker here. "Maybe we can make it a cute little pixie cut or a bob—"

A fist of hair clocked Lyoko square in the jaw.

"Ever consider a beehive?" Lyoko went on, brushing off the punch like it was a mere breeze. "Y'know, to go with the bear theme?"

"Shut up!"

Ursa lunged again. He hadn't seemed to pick up on the fact that the more he hurt Lyoko, the more Lyoko could retaliate in kind. So when more screws of hair were aimed at him, Lyoko wasted no time dashing forward and tackling the exposed Ursa at the waist. Ursa hacked and coughed, his hair smashing up the ground where Lyoko had been, and then he went limp in Lyoko's grip.

Lyoko assumed him unconscious. Lyoko assumed wrong.

Instead of trying to throw him off or create more injuries, Ursa's hair began to wrap around the duo and pin them together. Lyoko panicked—he'd struggled with just strands earlier, but now all of it was surrounding him? He had enough to break the screws of hair, but not all of it! Not like this!

Ursa's hands clapped against his cheeks harshly, forcing Lyoko to look at him. There was murder in his eyes, and the way his nails dug into Lyoko's skin spoke levels of how much he was holding back for the sake of _remaining_ a hero.

"If I can't crush you," Ursa seethed, "then I'll keep you here with me until your time is up."

The hair was well above his elbows now, Lyoko's legs and torso consumed alongside Ursa's tiny body. The outside was turning into a compact sphere, the hair swallowing him whole until there was nothing but darkness. He couldn't even see Tetsuya outside when he gave one final, fleeting glance behind him. Lyoko only saw an empty street, and then nothing.

Was that it? Was that what his plan amounted to? An ally who abandoned him and a prison of hair thanks to defending himself? More than that, _failure_? Lyoko's heart sank, the hope in his chest slowly dying out. He instinctively let the emotion flow through him, enhancing his limbs, but something in Lyoko knew it wouldn't be enough to break free of the sphere. He could barely move now, the only accomplishment he could make being the simple wiggle of his toes.

Ah… How was he going to break this to everyone cheering him on back home? How could he face them after all the times they said he'd be suited for heroics?

"Oi, Pervert-san!"

The hairs tightened as Lyoko tensed. Was that Tetsuya?

"Change of plans!"

Almost as soon as he'd said it, the sphere began to rumble. All around him he could hear Ursa snarling, screaming for Tetsuya to let him have just this payback. Lyoko could feel the hairs give and separate, could feel his limbs and the freedom they slowly gained by each second.

And then there was light.

Like a balloon had been burst, Ursa's hairs sprang out in every direction before finally being yanked back behind him. Lyoko dropped to the ground unceremoniously. Behind Ursa was Tetsuya, just few meters away, and he was struggling with all his might to keep all of Ursa's hair away from Lyoko.

"What're you waiting for?!" Tetsuya yelled at him. Lyoko's brows rose, his heart leaping for joy once again. He looked at Ursa's capelet, where both Lyoko's and his own badges were pinned, and he set himself into a crouch.

Lyoko focused all of his power to his legs. In one switch move, he launched himself at Ursa and tore the whole capelet from his costume, the rip leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Before Ursa could so much as react, too distracted with pulling back his hair, Lyoko was sprinting past him as fast as his Quirk would allow him and scooping the silver-haired boy up in his wake.

As a final push to give Lyoko time to run, Tetsuya focused all of his energy into repelling Ursa. With wide eyes and his jaw on the ground, Ursa's hair smacked back into him and sent him flying down the street like a ragdoll.

Lyoko didn't stop running until they made it well into one of the office buildings, hidden away in the darkest corner possible.

* * *

Everyone seemed to be on the same page for the moment. Apprehensive, but on the same page at least. While Jun stretched and made sure he was ready to start giving chase, beside him Azumi was steeling herself and preparing for the mayhem she was about to create.

That was Tsuna's plan once she found out what the two of them could do. Azumi could destroy as much of the surrounding area as possible, making it harder for Wonderland to just run away, and Jun would herd the boy into a trap laid by Tsuna's chains. They knew the boy was in this particular building, somewhere near the middle. Tsuna wasted no time planting chains by each window to alert her of attempted escapes, so all that was left was to just _do it_.

But Jun still had his concerns. Laidback as he was, he wasn't used to working with strict plans like this one. He was used to improv and going with the flow, making small goals rather than a long-term one. He was out of his depths with it.

Azumi let out a long breath and looked down at Jun. With a flat voice, she told him, "You have twenty seconds, Kyubi-san."

And with that, she activated her Quirk. Jun had never seen a transformation Quirk like his own that often, so he couldn't blame himself for being oddly mesmerised by the sight of her as Azumi grew and grew, now reaching a full seven feet in height. Her skin turned a dark reddish colour, her horns growing twice their original size. Truly she looked like an oni now, a sight Jun never thought he'd see in his lifetime outside of history books and fantasy.

Azumi grunted down at him when the transformation was complete. It was a silent warning that if he wasn't out of the room soon, he'd get caught in the mayhem she was to create.

Jun didn't waste another second scampering out of the room and taking the stairs to the next lowest floor. He sped through the halls and checked every nook and cranny he could, and then he finally made his way to the next floor. Any second now, he thought as he waited for Azumi to smash ground where she stood. Any second now Wonderland would be startled out and Jun would have to give chase.

The building shook, a deafening rumbling coming from above. Jun almost lost his balance as dust rained down from the ceiling, but he kept going. Down the stairs to the next floor—to the floor where Wonderland was slowly emerging from his hiding place, unaware of the pursuer on the other side of the room.

Jun got on all fours and pushed himself into a sprint right off the bat. He brushed Wonderland's costume once again, and like the last time Wonderland was skittish enough to notice and jump back. Another rumble came from above, a heavier rain of dust this time. Jun gave chase as Wonderland fled for a nearby window. It took just a quick glance outside for him to see the chain layered over it, and the white-haired boy wasted no time turning tail. He jumped over Jun, hopping onto a nearby desk. Jun skidded to a stop and once again sprinted after him—this time he could keep up, Wonderland's options significantly lessened by the tight space.

The ceiling caved in violently. Dust buffeted the floor, a pair of glowing red eyes gazing out from the thick cloud. Jun felt a chill go down his spine. Despite knowing it was Azumi, he still couldn't help the rush of fear those eyes gave him. Wonderland was even struck frozen by the mere sight of her, his legs shaking as he visibly contemplated what to do next.

Azumi picked up some rubble and threw it in Wonderland's direction. This was phase two, Jun thought as he turned for the hole in the ceiling. Wonderland, with only one way out, would try to escape via the upper levels. Jun, sticking to his role, would chase him until Tsuna could snag him. And if Azumi could manage a few trick shots through the holes she'd made, all the better.

Wonderland predictably jumped out of harm's way and aimed for the ceiling, hopping atop Azumi and using her as a prop to launch himself up two floors. Jun ran to Azumi's side, keeping his eye on Wonderland as the rabbit climbed over the edge of the first hole. Without so much as a glance at Azumi, Jun was grabbed by his shirt and thrown straight up into the air. He whizzed past Wonderland, snagging one of his earpieces with his claws, and the two went tumbling down onto the floor Jun had started on as the momentum threw them off balance.

Seeming to realise the severity of his situation, Wonderland gave up just running. His gauntlets glowed as he pressed the black club and spade on the backs of them. Jun watched him flex his fingers before clenching them into a fist, a crackle of electricity making him flick his ears. It seemed Wonderland had a plan to keep anyone from getting too close. Jun readied his claws and crouched low. He'd just have to make sure he didn't get hit, then.

They charged at each other, Wonderland aiming precise punches wherever Jun dodged while Jun widened and closed the distance between them as fast as he could. From below Azumi still provided support, aiming head-sized rocks at Wonderland whenever Jun had to push back. Every so often Jun would find an opening, and Wonderland would become increasingly desperate once that distance would close just a fraction more.

He was so focused on Jun and Azumi that Wonderland hadn't even noticed the chains outside each window multiplying. It wasn't until they burst through and created a web of silver and gold that Wonderland faltered, and by then it was too late. Jun watched in awe as the chains with hooks snagged Wonderland's ankles and tripped him up, watched as the boy fell forward and was caught mid-air by his wrists. Almost like a tripwire being broken, the chains snapped and coiled around him until finally Wonderland was immobile. The chains came from both the floor and the ceiling, and he had nowhere to move without electrocuting himself once his gauntlets were pressed firm against his face.

An almost playful chain dropped down and yanked the badges from Wonderland's costume. Two were thrown in Jun's direction—his own and Azumi's—that he caught in each hand; the other slithered back to one of the windows, where Tsuna was daintily sliding in and looking more than a little proud of herself.

Jun staggered over to the hole and called out, "Masamune-san!"

He dropped the badge, and Azumi, now shrinking back to her normal six-and-a-half feet, caught it without even faltering.

"Ah," Tsuna cooed, "Terurin is gonna be so proud."

Jun looked at her with a grin. "You really wanna impress your boyfriend, huh?"

Tsuna huffed her cheeks at him. "She is _not_—" And as soon as she'd spoken, her hands clamped down against her mouth. Jun raised a brow, confused, as Tsuna took on a shameful expression. "I—I mean," she added behind her hands, "_he_ is not my boyfriend."

Okay… Jun didn't get why she was embarrassed by the slip-up, but he wasn't going to prod. Besides, now they had to figure out who got the golden ticket.

Or not. Lost in her shame and embarrassment, Tsuna turned away and jumped out the window. The chains restraining Wonderland slithered after her, dropping the rabbit unceremoniously as Tsuna fled the scene. Jun stared with his jaw dropped. Azumi had just entered the room as Wonderland, equally confused, stared after the chains.

"Where'd she go?" Azumi questioned the boys. Both of them looked back at her with blank stares, just as lost as she was. And they'd witnessed it!

Finally, like the cherry on top, Azumi and Jun's badges chirped. Wonderland, seeming to recognise the sound, dropped fully onto the floor and let out a tired groan. He gave the duo a thumbs up before closing his eyes and dropping his focused demeanour.

The exam was over. And Tsuna just made off with the golden ticket.

Jun and Azumi couldn't stop the exhausted looks they gave each other even if they tried.

* * *

***Bangs pots and pans together* YOU HEARD RIGHT FOLKS TERU IS TRANS BC IM A PROJECTING BASTARD**

**Anyway thoughts and opinions are welcome and I hope the different way of explaining Quirks fits better than the prologue had? It definitely flowed better to write with each fight split in two**


	5. 04: Exam Site No 4

**We're getting close to the first arc after exams *thinking emoji* Y'all want me to assign a theme or something to each arc to get you speculating or are chapter titles enough for now? I can never pick tbh**

* * *

**04 - Exam Site No. 4**

Teru mimicked this morning's exercises as he walked to the site. There wasn't much he did in the way of physical stretches, his real handicap being with the durability of his Quirk, and it was all he could think to do in order to pass the time. He'd coat his hand with phosphophyllite, touch the tips of his fingers, and then release. He'd coat his hand with amethyst, touch the tips of his fingers, and then release.

It was a spectacle for the others who didn't know what to do with their time. More often than not he'd see someone watching his hand, only to be caught staring once he stopped moving for more than a few seconds. Teru didn't mind it per se—he just wasn't used to showing off his Quirk with the same abandon Shushu used to. Quirks were like muscles, sure, but even casual use could cause them to spasm in unpredictable ways. Teru had to avoid even that much.

It was the fifth time he coated himself with amethyst that he met the gaze of someone unwilling to look away. Teru watched the boy as he approached, almost struck breathless at the sight of him. He himself was technically a pretty boy now—god, Shiichi had tried to use that as an insult despite knowing how much Teru preened in middle school—but this guy… He'd seen enough of Shushu's dating sims to know what category he'd fall under.

_Ikemen_, he thought, almost choked up at the prospect of one even existing. He'd always prayed they never existed. A mere pretty boy is powerless against them—Shushu always drilled _that_ much into him whenever they argued over which route she should go for next.

So it was no surprise to Teru that he was a little intimidated. Even as the boy came to a stop next to him, gaze locked on Teru's hand and his height barely more than a few centimeters above his own, he remained hyper aware of his archetypal threat. Pale pink hair—with the barest hints of a tiny braid pinned back—and a pair of brown eyes that still hadn't met Teru's yet. As he continued to observe, to wait, he noticed two moles under one of the boy's eyes.

And then those brown irises, tinged with pink, flickered up to Teru's face. Teru startled. Despite the contemplative expression on the other boy's face, he couldn't help fearing the worst.

"Gemstones, right?" was the first thing he said. Teru clenched his hand into a fist. It earned him an unreadable expression. Was he being analysed? It was hard to tell.

"Y—Yeah…" He nervously coated his hand with amethyst again.

"May I?" The boy's hand hovered under Teru's. Was he seriously asking to touch the amethyst? Teru hadn't had a request like that since the Quirk manifested at four. Hearing it at fifteen felt… _awkward as hell_.

He pulled his hand back and flexed it. "I'd rather not," he said slowly. The boy nodded, almost understanding, and listened as Teru continued. "It is the real thing, though. Same hardness and everything."

Teru almost held his breath, anticipating the remark that a Quirk like his wouldn't be all that useful. It would shatter too easily. It would be a distraction. It would need to be diamonds to combat villains.

"Defensive and offensive," the boy muttered to himself. He leaned away from Teru (when had he breached his personal space like that?) and brought a hand to his chin. "You don't see a lot of versatility like that in the hero scene. And gemstones, no less…"

And then he nodded. He looked at Teru with a playful smile, interest bursting at the seams of his posture. "Ryosuke," he said, and it took Teru a moment to realise he was referring to himself. "Call me Ryo."

Teru stared at him, dumbfounded. So he wasn't going to be belittled for trying to enter Zenshi? He was being _complimented_? Dare he say, _approved_? He was at a loss how to respond. He took so long that Ryosuke—Ryo? Did he get to call him Ryo now?—leaned close once more and inspected the badge on Teru's shirt.

"Kousaki Teruki…" he read aloud. He nodded again, and this time Teru _knew_ it was approval. "Right. How about we work together, Teruki?"

"T—Teru!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. Ryo's brows rose. Almost ashamed, Teru repeated in a mumble, "Teru…"

Another approving smile. "Teru, then—"

Their badges blipped. The gates to the exam site eased open, and the sudden rush of applicants running past pushed Teru and Ryo into movement. Teru's heart leapt into his throat as he was shoved aside by eager applicants, some bigger and others smaller than him. The excitement of the masses was overwhelming, Teru no longer knowing which way was up and which was down; he couldn't even see Ryo in his peripherals, let alone hear his voice, and by the time he'd noticed he was beyond the threshold of the gates he was already well into the exam site.

Some applicants spread apart to cover more ground immediately. Teru watched as some sprouted wings and flew over the roofs of the traditional-style homes; someone right by his side, a kid with a coin clenched tightly between her fingers, reared back her arm and flung the coin high in the air—only to blip to the coin's position, descending as she caught it and threw it again, this time onto one of the _torii_ most of the group passed without a second thought. Was there even a mock shrine at the exam site?

Teru's mind whirled. He really wasn't sure what to do aside from keep running, following the crowd that slowly thinned out as more twists and turns in the village appeared.

Not a single student had greeted them yet. Teru swallowed thickly, the image of Go Mamoru's face flashing through his mind; as long as he avoided him, he'd be fine. No risks would have to be taken. Megumi wouldn't freak out more than she already was.

But he had thought too soon, gotten his hopes up far too early. Teru watched in horror as one of the buildings closer to him began to tremble and crack, the roof bursting like a popped balloon and raining tiles down on the applicants. His jaw dropped as a _person_ seemed to erupt from the crumbling building, growing and growing and growing. There was a pro with a Quirk like this, he thought vaguely as more people—regular-sized people, students of Zenshi—clung to the giant's costume and sat comfortably on his shoulders and hands. Two even dangled from strands of his hair, hovering near his ears like a parody of the angel and devil on one's shoulders.

Teru hadn't even realised he'd stopped moving. Half the applicants that had been rushing for the glory hadn't noticed either. But at least now it was silent.

His mind raced as he tried to name each Quirk and how dangerous they'd be to him. There was someone with a horse body—centaur body? Wait, no, Teru could see them standing now, those hooves morphing and their lower body turning into something else. Shapeshifting? He couldn't figure it out, even as they finally settled on a more feathery form. Which ones were safe? Which—

"Do your best, everyone!" shouted one of the students. Teru looked at her in disbelief, and it only intensified as she split into three—all exactly the same, with the only differences being the colours of their hair and costumes. The pink one gestured to someone on the giant's other shoulder, shouting, "Hit it, Fuwari-chan!"

Everything seemed to happen at once then. The students all leapt from the giant, freefalling for all of one second before thin, transparent discs appeared beneath their descending forms. As this happened, the giant quickly transformed back into a smaller size and was joined by the only other student without a disc under them.

Fuwari, Teru assumed, and with a grandiose wave of her arms the air around them grew cold. The wind picked up—more than it should've despite the weather today—and soon Teru was struggling to stay upright as he and the applicants around him were tossed around by the strong winds. All the while the students on discs were carried off by the wind as though riding their own personal platforms. Teru brought his arms up to his face and debated activating his Quirk, if only to grab hold of something if he was knocked over.

As quickly as the commotion had started, it seemed to end. The students all fled in separate directions, the giant having been whisked away with Fuwari. Teru could only stand there and watch as the applicants followed suit, pursuing the students they were most confident combatting.

Only two remained, one clad in a sharp business suit and wearing a pair of sunglasses while the other…

Teru's heart sank. The other was Go Mamoru.

Mamoru looked like a knight, or at least an homage to one, with his silver chestplate, gauntlets and knee guards. The clothes beneath the armour even had a medieval flair to them, the only oddity Teru could spot being the hood on the back of his black tunic. With his serious expression, he looked all the more intimidating in person.

And yet Teru was back at the same train of thought as when he'd spotted Ryo: _Ikemen_.

The one in the business suit lifted his glasses from his eyes, and Teru was amazed at the way his Quirk manifested: Both eyes glowed blue, sclera and all, and three glyph-like lenses, all decreasing in size, appeared in front of them. It was like he was his own pair of binoculars or something, but a feeling in Teru's gut told him it wouldn't be so simple. Not when he was standing next to the golden ticket.

And very quickly he showed himself to be a threat. He gestured to one large portion of the applicants who'd stayed for the golden ticket, and to Mamoru he announced, "Safe, Galahad."

Teru couldn't even count how many golden discs flew from Mamoru's sides. All he could see were blurs of stained glass before applicants were being knocked over and slammed into cottage walls. It took barely any movement, any effort, on Mamoru's part, and the onslaught was over within mere seconds.

Two thirds of the applicants were already out for the count.

"Captain?" Mamoru prompted once he was done. The one in the suit nodded lazily and turned his attention to the rest.

The lenses moved across the group at a languid pace. Some applicants were already beginning to charge, Quicks activated and ready to strike. Mamoru was quick to raise two large shields in front of himself and his partner. Some of the long-range attacks bounced off like rubber.

"Trickster," the one in the suit called, and Mamoru's lightning-fast shields catapulted the applicants pointed out to him back to the starting line. Every so often he would say something else—Manipulator—and Mamoru would take the time to knock those applicants unconscious. It didn't take too long for Teru to pick up on why he was saying those things. They were categories, and someone who fell under Manipulator was worth taking the badges from. Briefly he wondered if he'd be lucky enough to be a Trickster, to be knocked back to the gates and just look for someone else's badge.

The lenses landed on him. The lazy expression on the Captain's face turned serious. "Enhancer," he said to Mamoru, and Teru's gut practically fell to his feet. He was lucky enough that his reflexes kicked his Quirk into gear. His fingers, hands, forearms all coated themselves with gems, but it was far too late for him to realise he'd naturally gone for the weaker stone.

Mamoru charged him and flicked a shield directly at his midsection. Teru covered his torso with his arms as best he could, and his teeth dug sharply into his lip as the impact sent him a few feet backwards. Large chunks of phosphophyllite rained down onto the pavement, the skin they once covered raw and burning. There was barely a sliver of the gem left on either arm when the numbness set in and Mamoru closed the distance.

Teru dove out of the way as best he could, rolling back into the remaining group of applicants who were preparing their own strikes. He watched one boy attempt to form a bubble with his hands, but before he could even finish it was popped by a shield crashing into him. To call everyone else attempting to attack Mamoru chaos would be an understatement. They did give him an opening to gather his bearings, though. Teru could appreciate that much from the mayhem around him.

His hands shook as he made sure to coat them in amethyst this time. Another shield flew past him, knocking out the edge of a house as it ricocheted down an alley. Teru was probably paler than usual at the sight—and his poor heart didn't even have time to figure out what was going on as something crashed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground and pushing him into the very same alley.

There was muttering above him. Fast, hard to catch, and be barely understood the words _share_ and _reward_. He wiggled and rolled onto his back, if only to face his attacker head on—

"R—Ryo-san?" he gawked. Ryo still muttered, his gaze over his shoulder and stuck on Mamoru's slowly advancing form. Another shield was flung at them, and Mamoru miraculously continued to mumble as he grabbed Teru and pulled the both of them just a hair away from the shield's path.

Ryo stopped mumbling all of a sudden, letting out a long breath, and then one of his hands was held out to Teru. "Do you agree to the terms of sharing a Quirk?" he said quickly. Teru looked at his hand, then over his shoulder at Mamoru. His mind was whirling, struggling to keep up with everything going on.

"Teru!" Ryo pressed, fully aware of how close Mamoru was now. A good chunk of the crowd was incapacitated, a path straight to the two boys almost cleared. "If you agree, we'll get out of here without a problem!"

Mamoru's shadow reached the opening of the alley. Teru's heart leapt into his throat, and without even giving it a second thought he snatched Ryo's hand. For a split second he could see a mass of softly glowing particles emitting from their clasped hands, and then once more chaos rained upon them. The soft glow intensified, a warmth flowing through his whole body, and then all at once a blinding light exploded from them.

He could barely see as Ryo, still clutching his hand, dragged him to his feet and pulled him further down the alley.

* * *

It was official. Miyuki was stuck.

She didn't know why she'd expected catching three of the same person to be easy. She'd been optimistic about not being stuck with the designated powerhouse of the exam, sure, but that optimism probably just pushed her a _tad_ into the realm of overconfident. Hunting was kind of her thing, given her Quirk, but right now she felt like a kitten trying to catch a laser pointer aimed at the top of a doorway.

The rope net continued to spin slowly, in one direction and then the other. Miyuki watched the ground beneath her, the straight drop she faced from her precarious position under the shrine entrance. How Neapolitan had managed to set a trap right there, in plain sight, that managed to _catch_ Miyuki was beyond her. Maybe this was divine intervention or something—fitting, given the setting—for acting more like the wilder members of the family for once. Still, she'd been _excited_. Miyuki hadn't exactly been passionate about applying to Zenshi, but it was still a choice she'd made for herself and fought for with her own efforts.

Her tail dangled beneath her with a lazy curl. So what were her options now? Calling for help would probably draw Neapolitan back to her, and then she'd lose her badge for real this time. Cutting herself loose would probably end badly—Miyuki would either become snagged by the rope mid-drop and wind up in a worse situation, or she'd plummet straight onto the stairs and hurt herself. Then where would that leave her?

In the red, that's where.

Speaking of, Miyuki felt a wave of dismay wash over her when her badge blipped. She didn't need to see the screen to know she was in the red now, considering she'd been in the yellow as she'd pursued Neapolitan. Miyuki let out a low grown and dragged her hands down her face. She should've thought this through… She wasn't good at everything right off the bat like everyone else in her family… She _knew_ she had to prepare better.

"Miyu-chan!"

Miyuki blinked. The voice came from a short distance away, and it definitely wasn't Neapolitan—the girl didn't even know her name, let alone one of her nicknames. Not to mention, the voice was male…

"Miyu-chan, where are you?"

Even if it wasn't Neapolitan though, there was every possibility it was another student. No applicant knew her name, and who was to say one of the students couldn't assertain her identity with their Quirk? Maybe that was why there were traps around here—Neapolitan was leading students to them, and then the one who had _something_ to identify her came to collect her badge.

Miyuki worried at her lip, forgetting that her teeth were still sharpened. No way was she losing her badge like this. Injuries be damned, Miyuki had to try and get the heck out of dodge before they found her.

She flexed her fingers and sharpened her claws, testing the strength of the rope net with a few tentative slices. The rope frayed and slowly came undone under the pressure, but it was clear Miyuki would need to use more than just a few claws for this. She grabbed a section of rope tightly with one hand and began slashing at it as best she could with the other. Sooner than she could ever hope, one line in the net had been severed.

"Miyu-chan!"

Crap, the voice was closer now. Miyuki felt sweat beading at her brow. She ignored how worried the voice sounded—instead, her whole focus remained on widening the hole she'd made in the net.

Footfalls echoed behind her. Miyuki panicked as one of her claws became snagged on the rope, desperation taking over. They wouldn't take her badge—not like this!

Miyuki tore at the rope, hearing it snap and creak, before all of a sudden she was plummeting. Her heart leapt into her throat, her limbs attempting to right themselves, and all she could hear was the air rushing against her ears. Miyuki watched the rope net ascend just as the footfalls grew louder—hurried. She held her breath as she finally landed. Miyuki fully expected to hit concrete, to stumble down the stairs at the shrine entrance and twist an ankle. Instead she felt… flesh beneath her. A person breaking her fall, wheezing like a loose balloon after being so thoroughly winded.

Miyuki looked down at them, wondering if there was a badge to take. But when she saw they weren't a student she hurriedly crawled off of them.

"Made it…" the boy wheezed once she was off of him. He had three eyes, all of them closed as he tried to catch his breath. Miyuki stumbled to her feet as more people entered the fray—more applicants, this time calling someone else's name.

And then, Miyuki realised, this boy owned the voice that had been calling her. She watched as he slowly lifted himself into a sitting position, hacking up a few coughs, before finally he opened his eyes and gave her a soft, almost timid smile. There was familiarity in the expression that Miyuki couldn't explain. Neither of them had met before just now, right?

"Are you okay, Miyu-chan?" he asked weakly. Before she could so much as demand to know how he knew her name, one of the applicants came to a sliding halt behind the boy. Hands parted dishevelled strawberry blond hair, and the boy winced at the contact.

The girl that checked him over let out a disgruntled sound. "C'mon, Koizumi-san," she growled. "I _just_ fixed your ribs from the last guy we picked up."

"I _said_ my bad!" another applicant—with fox ears and numerous tails—yelled as he caught up with them. Miyuki watched as the girl pressed her hands against the boy's head. A soft glow came from her palms, and when she pulled them back again there was barely a thin layer of blood on her skin.

"Precognition and you're still accident-prone…"

"I know…" The boy hung his head. "But Miyu-chan would've broken her leg."

Her mind was whirling as they casually conversed in front of her. The whole gang was there, half a dozen of them, and they were acting like this was the most normal thing in the world for them. It felt like an eternity before any of them even gave Miyuki the time of day, and even that was thanks to the three-eyed boy fussing over her more than himself.

The fox boy gave her a sideways smile and said, "Don't worry, we're all in your shoes."

"What?"

"This guy came lookin' for us all and already knew our names," he went on. "He has a few ideas on how to catch Neapolitan if we're all together."

If Miyuki was following this right, then… What? The three-eyed boy was precognitive? He'd known of everyone thanks to visions? This kind of thing wasn't the weirdest she'd heard of, but this was the first time she'd seen a Quirk like this in person. Half the time it was something from a movie or in books about reluctant main characters.

"Speaking of…" The girl who'd held his head grabbed it again, this time with a softer touch. "You can still use your Quirk, right? You kinda did a number on your skull there."

He waved her off, embarrassed over the fuss, but when he stood up he began to veer downhill. The fact that the fox boy caught his sleeve and held him steady was a miracle, considering how close he was to the edge of the stairs. He still didn't seem worried about it, though; instead he reached for Miyuki, smiling down at her, and said the most staggering thing of all.

"I'm so glad I got to meet you in the present, Miyu-chan," he beamed. "I'm Koizumi Mirato. Let's do our best to become heroes."

Despite the confusion that riddled her mind, Miyuki found herself taking his hand. There was something reassuring in the situation now—like knowing that someone who'd _seen_ Miyuki's future, had looked forward to it, brought a sense of relief to her heart. And maybe, a small part of her thought, it would mean she wouldn't be aimless forever.

"Nekota Miyuki," she said, more for the others' benefits. Mirato just smiled even wider.

That relief didn't last long, though. One of the other applicants piped up, asking a question Miyuki had never thought to consider. Shocking, considering it was the biggest concern about her applying for Zenshi.

"If you can see the future… Do you know what happens with the killer?"

And Mirato's smile fell in an instant. He dropped Miyuki's hand and brought it to his side, almost like he was touching an old injury—though, if Miyuki had to guess with Mirato, it was more reassurance a future injury wasn't there.

Mirato chewed at his lip. "I tried to… once. It got hard to endure dying so much on the off chance I saw a face. Sorry," he added, ashamed.

Solemn silence hung over them. Perhaps asking something as sensitive as that right now was the wrong decision on the applicant's part.

The girl who'd inspected him clapped her hands. "That's all well and good," she said. "But we're on a time limit to catch some badges before my Quirk clocks out. Koizumi-san's gonna be in for a world of hurt and _I_ want to use that precognition of his as much as possible. Nekota-san was the last you wanted to find, yes?"

Mirato nodded at her.

"Good. So let's get to planning."

* * *

_**Go Mamoru - Hero Name: Galahad - Quirk: Shield Master  
**__Mamoru can conjure transparent shields that are best suited for defense, but can be used for destructive offense if every thrown. He's able to control multiple at once and layers them over each other in order to negate powerful, precise attacks directed at him. His shields make for excellent Anti-Ichigo Devices._

_**Arakuwa Fuwari - Hero Name: Gale Force - Quirk: Whirlwind**__  
Fuwari's Quirk allows her to manipulate the air around her, causing strong winds and even manipulating the direction it moves in. Her Quirk has best worked with Atsugase Saika's, also known as Impact Event, and the two are slated to form a duo upon graduation._

_**Osamu Arata - Hero Name: Captain Osamu - Quirk: Identification**_  
_Once Arata makes eye contact with a person, he can not only gauge their Quirk ability and the person's physical power, but also categorise a person into one of three types (as Arata names them): Enhancer, Trickster, and Manipulator. The only thing Arata can't determine upon first glance is the specifics of one's Quirk._

* * *

They were struggling to catch their breaths once they'd stopped. Teru could barely stay on his feet, his torso aching as he adjusted his binder, while Ryo wiped sweat from his forehead and inspected his arm. Mamoru—no, this was undoubtedly the rookie hero Galahad pursuing them now—hadn't let up on the chase one bit. Despite the flash of light that had blinded even Teru once he'd taken Ryo's hand, Galahad _still_ devoted himself to the capture of their badges.

Right now they were hiding inside a tiny schoolhouse, only two classrooms through the whole thing before they reached the administration office. Or what passed for one—it was far too tiny to even be called a bathroom, Teru thought as he leaned against the single desk inside. This wasn't the best place they could hide, but so long as they kept their heads down and stayed quiet they were sure to be fine.

As fine as being right next to the chaotic sounds coming from outside could be.

"Well," Ryo wheezed. Teru looked over at him, finding the pink-haired boy leaning against a filing cabinet. "Safe to say you're on his hit list."

"_Great_," Teru groaned. Ryo offered him a sympathetic chuckle.

"The good news," he went on, "is that you're not the only one with a Quirk that could threaten his shields now."

He lifted an arm and showcased the result of the earlier flash of light, stunning Teru as he caught sight of the thin layer of amethyst along his skin. Ryo examined it with a smile, intrigued even as he poked it with his other hand, and looked back to Teru once more.

"This is my Quirk," he said, filling in the blanks. "I make deals with people, and those deals can even mean sharing their Quirk. So long as we see it through to the end, we won't suffer any repercussions from my Quirk."

Hold on a damn minute. "_We_?" he echoed.

Ryo just pointed to Teru's arm. Much like the other boy's own, Teru's skin now had a small pattern etched into it. This was different to the gems he'd make. This was like something foreign, something glued to him that he couldn't peel off. Teru rubbed at it with his fingers, and a light itch was the response he got from the mark.

The fact that Teru was visibly panicking over the mark didn't seem to affect Ryo. He just went on, "So I can only borrow the Quirk, but I don't have all the details. Anything I should be aware of? Oh, and is the green gem weaker than the amethyst?"

In a daze, Teru mumbled, "Three-point-five Mohs…"

Ryo hesitated. "Come again?"

Teru repeated the hardness. As if defending himself and his instinctual use of it earlier, he added, "It hurts less if it shatters."

"I see…" Ryo brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought all of a sudden. Teru was surprised he wasn't being admonished or scolded or _anything_ negative right now. Shiichi would've—

Teru sucked in a deep breath. Who cared what Shiichi would've done? Everyone else had been supportive of Teru—even Tsuna, who barely knew him—so what did it matter if Shiichi didn't?

(It mattered because Shiichi was _supposed_ to care. It mattered because Shiichi had been the one Teru sought the most approval from. The most support. _It mattered_.)

He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. The self-deprecation and anxiety would have to come later, especially with someone else borrowing his Quirk for the time being. If there was one thing Teru could do, it was use his knowledge to help.

"If you have the same amount of power as me," he said, surprising Ryo. The pink-haired boy listened attentively. "Then you should only be able to make amethyst and phosphophyllite. Don't make the latter too often—it shatters really easily, but at least the pain isn't as intense. The amethyst didn't shatter immediately when he threw a shield so it's safe to assume we can use it to fend them off."

"If you had to compare the pain of the shatters…?"

"Three-point-five, like being burned by a hot cup of coffee. Seven…" Teru furrowed his brows. "Breaking a bone, according to Shu-nee."

Ryo nodded. He dismissed the amethyst as he approached Teru, still mindful of the sounds outside. Teru had actually forgotten Galahad was still out there, looking for him, but now that he could focus again he could tell the mayhem had gotten closer. It was only a matter of time before the schoolhouse was searched too.

Ryo set next to him on the desk. Seconds ticked by, their gazes on the open door in front of them.

And then, like an awkward icebreaker, Ryo asked, "What flavour ice cream do you like?"

Teru scrunched his face up at him. "Huh?"

"I like coffee, but only because it's the closest I'll ever get to tasting frappuccino-flavoured ice cream." He snorted. "They make bacon and maple syrup flavours but not a simple mix of caramel, vanilla and coffee? Caffeine discrimination."

He couldn't help it. A small giggle bubbled up at the indignance, the idea that someone could be so passionate about a flavour of ice cream so _ridiculous_ in this moment. He can't even bring himself to ask _why_ Ryo would ask such a thing. Instead of an offended look, Ryo just laughed along with him and grinned.

Free from his giggles, Teru began, "I'm partial to—"

And then, of course, the roof caved in.

And, of course, Galahad was the cause of it.

And, _of course_, he had shields ready to attack them with.

Teru and Ryo were lucky enough to dive in opposite directions, the first shield Galahad threw shattering the desk violently. Splinters rained down on them in an instant. Teru stumbled, turned to see if Ryo was okay, only to have to duck again when a shield flew at his face. Rather than risk more pain, Teru dropped limply to the floor like a ragdoll and let gravity save his behind for once. It wasn't like it'd do it any other time.

There was a pained grunt from the other side of the room. Teru rolled over, finally able to see where his ally was, and held his breath when he saw the large shield throwing Ryo further away from reach. His hands, coated in amethyst, pushed weakly back at the shield as it slammed him into the far wall. The shield strained, both its surface and the palms of Ryo's hands groaning under the pressure.

Galahad raised a brow before turning to Teru. "I see," he said to himself.

He flicked a shield at Teru, but this time Teru was somewhat prepared. With both hands, Teru swung at the shield and sent it off-course, the transparent disk barely grazing his leg as it crashed into the wall behind him.

His hands shook from nerves, but as far as he could tell the gems hadn't cracked yet. But now, after that first hit, the anxiety was more than prevalent in his mind.

There was a crunch from Ryo's side of the room. Both Galahad and Teru paused, the former looking almost hesitant—like he was worried he'd gone too far. But he probably shouldn't have worried. Teru felt silly for doing the same, especially since the level of pain he'd compared the amethysts breaking to was scream-worthy.

Ryo wasn't screaming.

The shield pinning him was covered in a gnarly spiderweb crack, the hands holding it at bay no longer coated in the shimmering purple. Teru looked up to Ryo's head, where the crack was most intense, just in time to see him slam his forehead against the shield. As it shattered, vanishing into thin air before it could even touch the ground, all he could see was half of Ryo's face covered in amethyst.

They were both gobsmacked by the sight, but Teru had the luck to recover faster when Ryo met his gaze. It was like seeing the gems formed somewhere other than Ryo's arms reminded Teru that, yes, that was a thing he could do. That was a thing he could _always_ do. He'd just never had a reason to until now.

He surged forward, closing the space between himself and Galahad. Just as the student turned and readied a shield, Ryo lunged as well. Galahad threw the shield at Ryo—and Ryo moved the gems to his hands, fingers laced together as he slammed his fists down hard on the shield. That was Teru's opening.

With what he hoped was enough force behind it, Teru lifted his knee to his chest and kicked out as hard as possible at Galahad. His foot, covered in enough amethyst to make his sneaker swell, landed closer to the student's hip than the intended stomach. He could hear something crunch underneath it. Galahad visibly began to pale.

He stumbled back past Ryo, giving the boys enough time to regroup. Teru thought they'd have to deal with—he didn't know, _something_! An injured Galahad? An angry Galahad? Both? His chest heaved as both of them readied themselves for another fight, fists raised and covered in gems once more.

Galahad was looking at the floor, where he'd just been standing not even a moment ago. His eyes were wide, no longer able to focus on Teru and Ryo. Slowly Teru searched the ground, skimming over the rubble and splinters of wood. He couldn't figure out what the student was looking at.

When Teru glanced back up at him, the change in Galahad's demeanour was tremendous. No longer was the rookie hero standing before him, ready to eliminate him—no, this was Go Mamoru, stunned silent with a horrified expression and his hands slowly raking through his hair.

Where was his badge?

Ryo took a tentative step forward. Mamoru didn't even flinch, unable to tear his gaze from that one spot on the floor. He took another step. He scanned the ground in front of him. He knelt down as he sucked in a deep, slow breath.

When Ryo stood back up, he was holding something that was decidedly not rubble. It was metalic, bent in half like something heavy had landed on it, and there were shards of glass falling off of its surface as Ryo turned it over. The pink-haired boy looked back at Teru, speechless, and Teru finally realised what it was: Mamoru's badge.

It was dead.

Teru swallowed the thick lump in his throat as Mamoru finally came to his senses. It wasn't much of an improvement from the silence, but it was better than being rammed with shields nonstop.

"I—" Mamoru tried. He stumbled over his words, the confident voice from earlier disappearing. With it, Teru thought, went his ikemen status. "We didn't— I gotta ask Osamu-san—"

_Blip!_

The badges on Teru and Ryo practically slammed them with the harsh reminder that they were being scored for their actions. He could taste his breakfast coming back up. His hand shook violently as it slowly reached for the badge. Ryo's gaze had moved from the broken one to Teru's, and the speed his face dropped was enough to give him pause. So instead, Teru sought out Ryo's badge.

Red.

The screen was red.

The cruel amusement in Poltergirl's expression earlier flashed through his mind. Teru dropped to his knees. Poltergirl turned into to Shiichi, the sounds of the classroom drowning out Mamoru and Ryo as they approached. He clutched at his shirt. He could see Shiichi looking down at him like he was a fool, like he should know better. Instead of the words of the boys in reality, all he could hear were the words that made him want to hide away from the world alongside his sister.

_Just another cautionary tale_.

* * *

"I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Mirato averted his gaze, almost as though he felt guilty for the other applicant's nausea. He even mumbled an apology, telling her, "The mazes get difficult sometimes…"

"I hope it's not like this every time when you, uh…"

Miyuki glanced between them. She wasn't entirely certain of the details, but from what she could gather, Mirato could see multiple timelines at once—some more complex than others, dubbed mazes. And considering he had to track three versions of the same person, the other applicant wasn't the only one concerned about the toll using his Quirk would have on him right now.

"It gets easier if I don't wander too much," Mirato said. He looked down at the dirt in front of them, where the applicant had doodled as she'd read his mind to witness his visions. There were three separate ones, each representing a different part of the shrine they were gathered at. It was a surprise to see that Neapolitan was close by, especially all three of her.

The applicant cleared her throat and slowly sat down, Mirato joining her not longer after. Just how intense were the visions?

"Okay," she breathed, addressing the group, "more often than not, all three of Neapolitan's forms are somewhere in the shrine. Yonaga-san has the most luck with Chocolate, but Chocolate is also the least prepared for—" She burped into her hand, still fighting to keep breakfast down. "Sorry—for Hachi-san's Quirk."

The girl in question grinned smugly. Miyuki would too if her Quirk was being a beehive that could control said bees.

The boy with the fox Quirk nodded. "Alright, Hachi-san and I will go after Chocolate."

"She'll be in an area that looks like this," the applicant went on, gesturing to the drawing of a garden. "Nekota-san has a bit of an advantage over Strawberry's location, so I'll leave Vanilla to Kono-san."

The boy with the slime Quirk saluted. Once he knew where to go, he jogged off in search of Vanilla. The other two left shortly after for the garden, leaving behind Miyuki to ponder where the last drawing could be directing her to. The applicant had drawn a bunch of trees and the sun, but it was far more vague compared to the garden and the hallway that the other two portrayed. Miyuki's could've been anywhere.

She looked up at the light forestry around their position, framing the shrine like thick hair. Literally anywhere, she thought as she scrunched up her nose.

"Did you get a more specific spot?" she asked the duo.

Mirato shook his head. "Sorry, Miyu-chan. Strawberry never came out from the trees, so I couldn't see any landmarks."

Well, if she was going to do this properly, she'd have to make some sacrifices. And one such sacrifice would have to be comfort, she realised with a sigh. She could count on one hand how many times she'd made this decision before, and Miyuki was _not_ happy about needing to do it again for the sake of passing the exam. Her senses and speed were heightened greatly as she was now, but if she had all this ground to cover under a time limit then it just wasn't going to be enough.

Miyuki crossed her arms as she tried to come up with more cons than pros for the situation. If the bad outweighed the good, maybe she could get away with being as she was now.

"Miyu-chan," Mirato spoke up. Miyuki looked down at him, only for her head to rise as he stood up and hobbled over to her. "You don't have to. It might even be better if you don't."

How did he…? Miyuki shook her head. Precognition, right. So there were timelines he saw where she made that call. At least now she knew for sure she was better in her current state.

"Right," she said. He smiled, looking guilty again, as he waited for her to continue. It was weird, having someone be so familiar with her despite only meeting that day. "There's a chance Strawberry doesn't have a badge, isn't there?"

The applicant shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention to who had it, but I think one-in-three is a decent gamble."

Miyuki hummed. Mirato's eyes glowed faintly as she did, his focus no longer on her anymore. Maybe he was checking to see if he could spot any landmarks on a second try? Miyuki shrugged and looked back to the applicant. "So as long as we have our badges we're fine? Maybe we can provide backup to the others."

"It could work, I suppose…" The applicant frowned. "The girl with the healing thing left, though, so we'd have to be a hundred percent sure which one we back up."

"Kono-san is taking on Vanilla solo. Maybe we could give him some chances to—"

"No, no! Trust me when I say Kono-san makes perfect use of the narrow space. Koizumi-san actually saw far enough that Neapolitan had to stay separated in order to get rid of the smell first…"

Oh. Oh that didn't sound good.

"So that means we—"

"Down!" Mirato screamed all of a sudden. He grabbed Miyuki, shoving her face into his shoulder and blocking her view. It was the only warning she got before everything turned dark, and then the clutter of metal on the concrete reached her ears. Mirato had the foresight (pun unintended, she realised) to clamp his hands down on her ears as well, muffling the loud bang that came from just a short distance away.

Her ears were ringing as both she and Mirato dropped to their knees. Mirato was clearly in pain following the flash bang, his hands leaving Miyuki's head and clamping hard over his eyes. There was a groan back where the other applicant was, and she took was holding her head in her hands as she collapsed to the ground.

The air around her was muffled, like Miyuki was stuck underwater, but ever so slowly she was dragged to the surface. Ever so slowly she could recognise the voice of a fourth person, jumping into the fray while the applicants were down.

Miyuki stumbled to her feet and stood over Mirato, claws out and tail bristling as it swayed back and forth in warning. Over the edge of the stairs, just a short distance away, a pink head of hair bobbed into view. Strawberry looked more than pleased with herself, and even a little surprised to see Miyuki up and about, as she reached the top step.

"Ooooooh," Strawberry cooed after a glance at Mirato, "that's gotta get you double points at _least_. Prioritising your comrades' safety as well as the general public's is big here."

She looked back over at Miyuki. One look at the girl's tail and ears sent Strawberry into an almost gushing state. "And a kitty!" she cheered. "I knew I'd get to play with some cuties! Mamo-kun has no faith in the power of wishes."

The Neapolitan Miyuki had been chasing—whoever and whichever one they had been—was nothing like Strawberry. They were excited to face off against the applicants, just playfully leading them around and through traps that had been set ahead of time. But Strawberry? Strawberry left no indications that she was going to attack at any time. It put Miyuki on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was no way she'd be this ditzy and just babble instead of challenging the applicants.

Strawberry skipped forward. Miyuki bared her teeth in warning as, ever so slowly, Mirato tried to crawl his way out of the potential scuffle. If he was able to go to the other applicant and hide, Miyuki would be able to lead Strawberry on a wild goose chase and meet back up. She got a good whiff of Mirato's clothes—tracking him would be child's play.

"Hey, hey, kitty," Strawberry started, still looking like a kid in a candy store. "Did you know I was the one who came up with the exam for this year?"

Miyuki lowered her claws a fraction. "What?" she said.

"I did! Which means I have to work extra hard to make sure it's a success." Mid-skip, Strawberry's hands flew to her belt and tore small bags from them. Miyuki watched them descend, seeing the small pellets peeking out from the fabric as they hit the ground. "So no hard feelings, okay?"

Smoke exploded onto the scene. It was sulfurous, Miyuki's eyes watering as the stench hit her nose and the smog clouded her vision. Mirato was no longer underneath her, on his way to the applicant's side, and it brought her a small sense of relief. But that relief didn't last long. Strawberry probably wanted to use this situation to grab everyone's badges, and if that happened then Mirato's hard work would've been for nothing.

Miyuki batted at the smog and coughed. She may not have had the drive to do this on her own, but someone else clearly saw her graduation to hero coming and supported her fully. Had even sought her out and helped her. Like hell she was going to let his own dream go up in flames after all the planning and hard work and injuries.

Miyuki tore her badge off of her shirt and shouted, "Hey!" to the telepath. There was no doubt the girl was privy to what Miyuki was doing—if she'd witnessed Miyuki shift in the visions, then she knew why Miyuki would call out in the first place. She chucked the badge as hard as she could in the general direction of the girl, and then with a deep breath Miyuki took the plunge.

Sure, she'd been told it would be better not to shift. But that was when the only indication they had about Strawberry was her being in the forest area. Neither had seen a vision of her walking up the steps so brazenly until just now, which meant their planning for Strawberry was moot.

Bones and joints cracked; skin stretched and hairs turned to fur; second by second, Miyuki could no longer stay on two feet alone. Everything she could feel, she felt burning. Her flesh, her bones, her _organs_. This was why she never shifted often. Fur sprouted through the skin, yet another painful sensation she had to suffer through. Miyuki dug her claws into the ground, a low growl echoing through the smoke—and then she heard the footsteps, the hesitation in them. A figure, only one, just a few feet away from her. As soon as Miyuki's Quirk finished its thing, she prayed she wasn't about to mistake someone for Strawberry. She'd never let herself live it down if she took down a fellow applicant like this.

Miyuki pounced. She crashed into a body, a feminine scream sounding—_so loud, so loud_—as both she and the figure tumbled backwards. Her claws dug into skin—_don't be an applicant, please_—before finally Miyuki was shoved off, rolling through the dirt and out of the smog. She looked down at one of her paws; blood, she thought, and she wasted no time bringing it to her nose and taking a whiff. If this was Strawberry's, there was no way Miyuki was losing her.

As though answering an unspoken call, Strawberry burst through the smog right after Miyuki. Her pink leotard was stained red at the shoulder, a short metal pole in each hand as she charged Miyuki. Miyuki crouched low, ready to jump back and to swat at the small poles—but then Strawberry squeezed them tighter, and with a soft click they tripled in length. Collapsibles, Miyuki thought? Whatever they were, they had just as much reach as she did.

"That—" Strawberry grunted, swinging down one of the poles at Miyuki. Miyuki jumped to the side and tried to catch Strawberry by the leg. "—hurt—" Strawberry jabbed at Miyuki's side with the other pole, earning a yowl. "—kitty!"

_How do you think I feel!?_ Shifting wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Miyuki either!

She tried again for Strawberry's leg, actually managing to snag a claw in the leather of her boot. Strawberry screeched as Miyuki tugged it back. From the corner of her eye, Miyuki could see two other forms exiting the smog.

"Miyu-chan!" Mirato called, but he was quickly dragged back into hiding by the applicant once it was apparent that Miyuki was keeping Strawberry busy.

Strawberry struggled against Miyuki's grip, jabbing at her again—but Miyuki remained steadfast. She wasn't in danger of losing a badge, and as long as she kept Strawberry's focus on her then the other two were in the clear.

There was a crash within the smog. The applicant screamed in horror, and the scent of iron filled her nose. It was much more intense than Strawberry's wound had been. A bigger amount.

"Koizumi-san!?" screamed the applicant. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Miyuki didn't even notice she'd released Strawberry's boot from her grip until the paw stomped onto the ground. But Strawberry hadn't even moved. She was staring with wide eyes into the smog—slowly clearing like a dramatic curtain revealing the final act. "_Koizumi-san!?_"

There were blips, sounds of badges updating, before finally a chime rang out—the end of the exam—but Miyuki wasn't paying full attention. Her gaze was glued to the prone form on the ground, to the small pool of blood around their head. Fingers on one of their hands were bent ways fingers should never be bent. Random scratches, thin and thick, littered peachy white skin, almost as though they'd just walked away from a nasty encounter with a thorn bush.

Miyuki stumbled forward. Strawberry grabbed at someone on her belt and began requesting someone come to her location. The applicant hovered over the boy with tears in her eyes.

The Quirk that had been holding back Mirato's injuries timed out. And, Miyuki thought grimly as she finally stopped at his side, she wasn't kidding when she'd said he'd be in for a world of hurt. Despite it all though, Mirato was still breathing.

She'd never felt so relieved in her life.

* * *

**Great big thank you to Auriria for letting me give their OC, Yonaga Syaoran, a cameo in Runner Ups. We'll be seeing more of him a bit later (as in, much later in 1-A).**

**Also, someone asked if I have a schedule for updates! I don't have one that's set by dates, but I do have an alternating update schedule that readers of my other story, Scout, have probably noticed as well! I update one and then the other - so after this update for Runner Ups, another update won't be due until after an update for Scout comes out! Hope that makes sense!**

**Hhhhh one more exam chapter to go. What'd we think of this set of upperclassmen and ocs? And for those wondering (since I never mentioned it specifically like at all in her pov what are you doing Ren) Miyuki's transformation is a snow leopard.**

**Till next time!**


	6. 05: Exam Site No 7

**This chapter kicked my ass, drank all my pepsi and called me a bitch. But I got it done anyway hoohoo! With this out of the way, we can close the Entrance Exam Arc and begin Practical Classes Arc! And because I do like the idea of songs, I'll assign a theme to each arc!**

**And since I took so long with this one, it might be safe to say the theme for PCArc here and now: **Ambivalent** by **Eve**. (And if any of you have spoken to me ever about music, you know Eve will pop up a lot in future arc themes.**

* * *

**05 - Exam Site No. 7**

The excitement was almost overwhelming. All the different people around, the sheer ambition on all their faces. This wasn't UA, like most aimed for, but it was a hero academy nonetheless. And, like his peers, Soku was positively excited to get started.

He did a few stretches as he stood next to a girl he'd met during the orientation. Yagami Touka was casual and carefree, more than willing to have a chat with Soku once they were out of the auditorium. She'd divulged the intricacies of her Quirk to him, and Soku—like a hero should—decided he would team up with her to make sure they both passed. A light-based Quirk was handy, after all, and there was no telling how many people Touka could help if she got into Zenshi.

"Not as big a turnout as I expected, y'know," Touka told Soku after a while. She'd unzipped her jersey, revealing the sports bra underneath and fair skin awash with a faint pink glow. When Soku had first seen Touka, he'd mistaken her for one of the more conventionally attractive boys that most girls slobbered over. Now, though, he was aware that she was just boyish enough to still get the girls' attention. "Think it'll be easy?"

Soku grinned at Touka. "No worries, Yagami-san! No matter how many we have to compete with, we're gonna blow them away!"

"You're really stoked about this."

"Of course I am! This is our chance to become heroes, Yagami-san!"

Touka grinned. She scanned the crowd around them, only pausing to tell Soku, "Then we should take some guesses about how competitors' Quirks, right?"

She was looking towards the back of the crowd, where stragglers were waiting on their own for the timer to start and the gates to open. Soku followed her gaze slowly. There was someone with a pair of wings, someone whose fingers were wriggling like worms. Where Touka was looking, though, was a bit less obvious.

It was hard for Soku to tell if they were girls or not. They both looked pretty feminine, in his eyes at least, and it wasn't like they were close enough to hear the duo's voices. One was taller, with fluffy, shoulder-length red hair that looked almost like rose petals decorated around their head; the other was smaller, almost childishly so, with sky blue hair that ended in bubblegum pink tips. Very eye-catching, the two of them, and it was no surprise that Touka was interesting in guessing their Quirks.

"The redhead's feet," she said to Soku. His gaze travelled down, down to the bare feet the redhead sported. Where were their shoes? As though answering the question, the earth around their feet seemed to sprout grass and small dandelions before rapidly going through its life cycle, fading away to dirt once more before the process started again.

"Unconscious use, I think," Touka said. She rubbed her belly almost sympathetically. "Plant manipulation? Plant growing?"

"What if it's a time-based power?" Soku tapped a finger to his chin. "Like Kronos?"

"I dunno. What about the chibi?"

Soku chuckled. Chibi—trust Touka to come up with a good nickname he could remember.

"No clue. It's not as obvious as the redhead," Soku said. Touka hummed in agreement.

From behind them, a girl's voice asked them, "What's not as obvious?"

They both startled. Soku whirled back around to face the newcomer while Touka took her time, looking over her shoulder first before turning fully. Before them was a dark-haired girl, a small cloud tucked under her arm like a bag she was carrying somewhere. She was around Soku's size, and she looked mildly interested in what they were talking about—if her raised brows were anything to go by, that was.

She held in her other hand a coffee cup, and Soku could vaguely smell something like tomato wafting from its opening. Touka pointed down at it with her face scrunched up.

"Where'd you get that?" she demanded. The girl shrugged.

"Bought it here."

"You snuck it in?" Soku gasped.

The girl took a sip and shook her head. "Got permission," she said. She released the cloud from under her arm and let it float to around shoulder-height. She patted it with her free hand. "This baby needs it."

Touka's brows shot up. "Quirk-related?"

The girl nodded. She tucked the cloud back under her arm and gave a mock salute with her coffee mug. "Igarashi Yoko. The cloud's my Quirk."

"Yaiya Soku," Soku said excitedly. He'd never seen someone with a cloud for a Quirk! Man, he couldn't stop wondering what it'd do. Did what she eat affect it? Was it solid enough to sit on? Would it float away if she didn't hold onto it?

Touka nodded in greeting. "Yagami Touka. I glow."

Yoko hummed. "Noticed. You glow any other colours?"

When Touka shrugged, Yoko just scrunched up her face at her and began chugging whatever was in her coffee cup. She gave the duo a short farewell, leaving just as fast as she'd arrived in their lives. Soku was probably gonna call her Hurricane Yoko if this was normal for her, he knew it. Touka, at least, didn't seem bothered by the sudden departure. She just turned back to Soku and went to resume their earlier conversation, almost as though Yoko had never approached.

"I think we should avoid the top student," Touka said. Soku looked at her in alarm. Why would she want to avoid the top student? That was their golden ticket into Zenshi, right there! "She looks like she has a snake thing going on and light isn't really effective against those. Y'know?"

Soku pursed his lips. They'd have to settle for someone else's badge, then. "Yeah, I see your point…"

Their own badges let out blips, informing them that the exam was going to begin. Soku and Touka both turned for the gates as they groaned open, slowly letting the applicants into its wondrous layout. Touka stuck close to Soku as the two ran with everyone else, and soon enough they could see just what the inside of the site looked like.

Soku wasn't sure about all the other exam sites, but Exam Site No. 7 was something else. The high walls outside had hidden the pine and oak trees splendidly, the ground so very similar to that of an open forest's. It was like the applicants had just entered a whole other world, out of the city and into the wilderness with only the slowly closing site doors their way back to civilisation.

They both slowed to a jog, admiring the scenario. They were so caught up in all the green and brown and blue that, at first, Soku didn't notice what was wrong with the picture. Even as he saw the trees rustle and heard the wood groan under some kind of strain, he was too enamoured with the world around him.

Touka grabbed hold of him as he swayed. When Soku shook his head and finally paid attention again, he could see why he'd almost lost his balance. The whole forest floor was rumbling, moving up and down like the forest itself was breathing. He'd seen videos online of this phenomena—couldn't remember the name of it for the life of him, but the image was haunting enough on a computer screen. In person, though?

Terrifying.

"A Quirk?" Touka tried. Soku stayed close. It could very well be a Quirk, especially since he couldn't recall the specific conditions breathing earth required. It was a weather thing, wasn't it? Ugh, why couldn't he remember?

Soku's eyes darted back to the sky, where the tops of the trees swayed and shed leaves under the rough treatment. It had to be someone in the sky, he thought, someone with a wind Quirk. But where?

A flash of red flew up into the air. Soku brought himself and Touka to a complete halt. Touka craned her head up as well, spotting the person clad in red as they slowed in their ascent. They hovered in the air for a moment, almost like a feather caught in the wind; and then, out of nowhere, they began to plummet at speeds impossible for someone who'd flown up so effortlessly. Like a bag of feathers turning into a bag of bricks, Soku thought with a gasp.

"Hold on, Yagami-san!" he shouted. Touka turned to him as the wires sprouted from Soku's arms and legs. Titanium and completely under his control, Soku willed the wires around the two of them like a cocoon. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the person in red disappeared below the treetops. As soon as there was enough to ensure their safety, Soku moulded the wire into a barrier as airtight as possible for them.

All he could see in the darkness was the glow of Touka's skin. But Soku would be damned if they didn't need to hang onto each other once the person in red finally came in contact with the ground. The ball of wires bounced and rolled all over the place, but it was much, much better than letting the trees fall on them without a shield.

And like Soku had anticipated, his gut screaming at him when it had, a tree landed atop the ball and stopped them in their tracks. The rumbling did not stop once they did. It only continued at a steady pace, undeterred by the intruders in the forest.

* * *

As he licked the blood from his fingers on one hand, Kira watched the back of his other hand slowly change. He watched the fair skin slowly change in some parts, shapes etched above the bone that he slowly recognised while he walked. His left hand had triangles carved atop them now—alchemical symbols, one for each element, though only two were present. Kira finished cleaning off his fingers and pulled the other hand in front of him. Sure enough, a mirror image was on the back of his other hand.

"Hm," was all he said on the matter.

Whoever had demolished the site after everyone had entered, they were a powerhouse. Kira had gotten lucky, had hung back when the gates opened, and he'd been missed by the descending trees and crumbling earth around him. Everyone in front of him, without a protective Quirk? Wasted. They never even stood a chance, and Kira was making certain he took full advantage of it.

The inverted triangle on his left hand, with a short, horizontal line through its tip, glowed a faint shade of brown as he activated the Quirk. The earth beneath Kira shifted and softened, and soon he no longer needed to walk. Kira practically skated along the ground as dirt clung to him, dragging him along with his every whim. He breezed past fallen applicants; still no sign of students, he thought with growing annoyance. How the hell was he supposed to prove to this damn school he was worth their attention?

A groan sounded out nearby, another applicant caught under a tree branch and fading into unconsciousness. Kira clicked his tongue at them. Worthless, he thought. The fact that so many had been taken out so easily, right at the beginning of the exam, was pathetic. He would've had more of a challenge at UA—he would've had more competition at UA!

But UA would never accept the likes of Kira. All the money in the world didn't change that fact, it seemed. Kira ground his teeth together as he breezed past the now unconscious applicant. No blood, he thought with a passing glance, which meant nothing extra for Kira. A shame. Not that he'd have trouble drawing the blood himself, but even Zenshi had made it clear he was on thin ice with them.

Kira veered right, towards the centre of the exam site. Since when did he care about what those above him thought, though? Poltergirl had said it herself—if someone got a top student's badge, they were guaranteed entrance to Zenshi. So as long as Kira got that badge, he wouldn't have to worry about being rejected for doing what he does best.

The student in red had to have been a top student. There was no way they'd use someone so powerful just as a distraction, especially when such a magnitude of power was hard to top. Shaking the earth, toppling trees, obliterating the applicants in one fell swoop—there was no way someone stronger remained in the site.

Kira licked his lips, only to pause. He skidded to a slow halt, the ground at his feet hardening once more. There was a fragrance in the air, he thought, and his gaze wandered along the decemated forest floor. Green, brown, amber sap—red, bright like a bead of blood on the tip of one's finger. Red, like the rosy hair the applicant next to him outside had. Kira spied one rose petal, then another, and then another; almost like a trail of breadcrumbs, left thoughtlessly behind by the flowery applicant in their haste, and they were more than likely leading straight to them.

He couldn't help the small smirk that graced his features. If he could just get even the tiniest drop from that applicant, Kira would have the high ground. Kira would probably be unstoppable, the entire exam site under his control—he'd seen the way the ground had been affected by the applicant, the way those plants grew and died, grew again like some kind of vicious cycle the redhead fueled. Plant-based Quirks weren't always the best for hero work, especially with so many concrete jungles around them. But in a real jungle? With soil and sun and other plants?

Kira took off into a sprint into the trees. There was no way he was letting this opportunity pass. If he got that Quirk, if he could cover more ground with it, then that golden ticket was Kira's. No ifs or buts, Zenshi would _have_ to acknowledge the very thing UA had refused to.

Nothing would stop Kira.

The further into the forest he ran, the more hectic its structure became. Gone were simple toppled trees and dirt mounds; instead Kira was running headfirst into a haphazardous area, trees holding each other up by mere twigs and roots poking out so far from the ground that Kira almost snagged his foot on it. Even the craters left behind were something to behold, perfect little hiding places or even pitfalls for unsuspecting applicants.

He'd have to check any he came across, he told himself idly.

The amount of petals on the ground increased the further into the area he ran. Clusters of them, like the redhead had paused at some point, and then the trail resumed again. Kira wasn't sure why they were stopping so frequently, but he knew one thing: The redhead was close.

Something snapped in the distance. Several somethings. Sticks, he thought? But what would snap them in such quick succession, if it wasn't a person? Kira paused, ducking behind an overturned tree trunk as fast as he could. The redhead was no longer a concern, he thought as the snaps moved closer and closer to him. No, his concern was no on the approaching danger—the faint shaking of a rattle in the distance, no unlike a snake's.

Kira sucked in a deep breath. He hadn't seen anyone who could make rattling sounds with any part of their body earlier. A student, he wondered? It couldn't be the golden ticket, the one who'd leapt into the sky and caused that earthquake. Right?

Kira dug his fingers into the dirt as the sound of the rattles grew closer. Every second that passed seemed to bring a new phenomenon to his ears—the sticks snapping rapidly, the rattle of a tail, the low hissing of a snake. He looked down at his hands, at the alchemical symbols etched on the backs of them. This Quirk had control over cardinal elements, he recounted, and that really only left him with a few options. There was no water, so to use anything like that would require condensation. Fire was out of the question unless he started out. Could he combine the Quirks enough to make lava? Ice? The sounds drew closer and closer, stealing away precious time Kira needed to pick an option.

There was a tug on his ankle. Kira jolted, but managed to stay quiet, as his eyes snapped away from his hands. He pulled his ankle back, knee to his chest, as something grassy slowly eased itself off of him. A vine? Kira stared down at it for a moment, and then he was completely alert as he realised it was coming from somewhere. From _someone_. The redhead? Kira held his breath. It had to be. No one else had plant-based Quirks, right?

His gaze followed the vine along the ground, all the way to the nearest tree to himself. It was tilted dangerously, almost a full forty-five degree angle against another tree, and even Kira could tell the smallest push could send it tumbling down. Yet the vine continued to snake back under the tree, under the crater left by its roots—until finally a pair of heads poked out. One was the redhead, the plant-user who'd kept to themselves. And the other, Kira recognised, had been with the two who'd watched himself and the redhead like they were sizing them up.

The one whose Quirk was a cloud; the one whose cloud gained her approval to bring _food_ into the exam.

As soon as he recalled the cloud, the girl held it up to the opening of the crater, fitting it snuggly between two roots. Kira watched as she held up three fingers, for both him and the redhead, and then slowly counted down.

Mist spread from the cloud like an infection. Thick, humid, blinding, and it only grew as she counted. Once she reached the final finger, the fog had spread to Kira.

The redhead held their arm out and Kira watched as vines sprouted from the skin, darting toward him like a lifeline. Kira's brows rose. Despite how presumptuous of them it was to offer help to _him_, Kira accepted it nonetheless and grasped one of the vines. He could hear the hissing get closer, the rattle almost mere metres away from the trunk; ever so slowly Kira let the vines guide him, and as he walked he wiggled the fingers of his free hand. The air symbol glowed and a small gust of wind pushed the fog further, extending his cover like a blanket over the forest.

Finally he made it to their hiding place. As soon as his feet were planted firmly on the crater floor, the girl pulled her cloud back and the redhead called back their vines. Only then did Kira see how they'd hidden themselves so well—how the redhead produced near-identical roots from their skin and covered any openings with them, giving off the illusion of the tree being abnormally large underground.

Only their badges illuminated the space they were in. The girl took her own off, using it to light up her face as she brought a finger to her lips. A moment later she turned it back to face Kira, her name on display with her score.

Igarashi Yoko. She was in the green.

The redhead followed suit, and finally Kira could discern their gender from the little marker by their name: Bara Momoiro. He was also in the green.

Kira didn't bother to return the courtesy. Instead he pointed to the opening he'd come through, and then tapped his badge impatiently. Yoko rolled her eyes and Momoiro pulled his badge off of his shirt, flicking through it quickly. Kira only had to wait for a few seconds before the answer to his question—just who'd been outside, who they were hiding from—was answered.

Janome Busuko. Hero Name: Gorgon. Top student at Exam Site No. 7.

All Kira could do was give the duo a full, toothy smile. That golden ticket was within an arm's reach, his for the taking.

* * *

_**Atsugaise Saika - Hero Name: Impact Event - Quirk: Selective Heaviness  
**__Saika is able to manipulate how much she weighs to, in extreme cases, replicate the kind of impact a meteor has on the earth. Saika can also do the reverse, rendering herself light as a feather for others to throw. She's partnered with Arakuwa Fuwari, also known as Gale Force, and already has a reputation among the hero community for her internship under Bakugou Katsuki, also known as Ground Zero._

_**Janome Busuko - Hero Name: Gorgon - Quirk: Gorgon  
**__Busuko's Quirk gives her the physical appearance of a half-snake, half-human. Her upper half is regular-sized, growing at the normal rate a human would aside from the scales she's covered in, while the lower half rivals the length of anacondas, rattle included. Busuko's main strength is her physical power, particularly along her tail, but she's reached the top of her class's ranks thanks to her hard-earned agility at Zenshi._

_**Koori Chiaki - Hero Name: Skathi - Quirk: Jötunn  
**__On top of being just over eight feet tall, Skathi's Quirk allows her to craft varying kinds of weapons from ice that, upon impact, explode into glaciers she uses as walls. She is most well-known for using spears, but has considerable talent in all fields. Skathi is a Zenshi alumnus, and she's the highest ranking hero to come from the school. Her current rank is 23._

* * *

Their badges both flashed red in the dim light of the titanium ball. Despite how long it'd taken for the rumbling to stop, for everything to stabilize, Touka and Soku had been adamant on staying in the ball for their safety. They had to be certain that when they left, they wouldn't immediately lose their badges or be crushed beneath more trees. It was silent outside, save for the distant sounds of students and applicants giving chase to each other, and it was more than clear that half of their allotted time had passed for the exam.

Soku sucked in a deep breath while Touka tried to dim her glow a bit, seemingly reading his mind for what he had planned. "Now or never, right?" he said.

"No point in hiding the whole time," Touka agreed. "And we might have a chance to snag a badge between us, judging by how close the ruckus outside is."

He nodded. This was their only chance, after all. With both Touka's Quirk to blind and distract the students and Soku's to capture them, there was no way they were leaving this exam without any accomplishments.

The wires parted without so much as a pause, flooding the inside of the orb with sunlight and the scent of pine. Touka peeked out first, stepping out onto the dirt barely a second later, and Soku followed her without hesitation. What was once a picturesque scene of nature was now reduced to the aftermath of an earthquake, and then some. The sky was much easier to see over the treetops, those thick pine trees and oaks leaning on each other and splayed all over the ground. Soku looked over his shoulder as he exited the ball fully; his stomach dropped when he saw the two trees atop it, and now that he could see inside without just a faint glow from Touka, he could tell just how much of a strain the trees had put on all the layers of wire.

Soku's wires were strong, even individually. To have dented the ball, even if just a little, was concerning.

They were the only students in this small area for all of a few seconds. It didn't take long for someone to join them, tears in his eyes as he emerged from a small opening in one mess of trees. It was the kid with wings, Soku thought, and he looked pretty banged up as he stumbled toward them.

"You gotta get outta here!" the winged boy insisted. His face was covered in tears and snot. "They dumped us with the kid who worked with Ground Zero!"

Despite the danger that came with that sentence, Soku couldn't help gasping excitedly. One of _the_ Number Three hero's interns went to Zenshi? Was it the one in red who'd caused the earthquake? Oh, man, that'd make so much sense if they were!

Touka gave him a small tap on the top of his head. "Oi, that's not a good thing," she said dryly. Touka met the winged boy halfway and helped him over to the ball, almost as though offering him a place to hide. "What's her Quirk?"

"She—She does this thing where she just…" The boy struggled to find the words. If he could even list one small thing about the Quirk, Soku might have heard of the girl from his grandpa. The pro hero Wrangle still kept in touch with modern heroics, after all, especially for Soku's sake. "I don't know! One minute she was super light when I tried to fly off with her, and the next she weighed way too much! I've never descended so fast before without doing a dive…"

Oh! Soku was sure he knew which intern the boy was talking about now. He couldn't remember her name, but he did remember it was extremely fitting when paired with "Ground Zero". His grandpa had even joked that Ground Zero had chosen her to intern for him _because_ of her hero name rather than her Quirk.

"I think I have an idea," Soku blurted out. Touka turned back to him, eyes wide. He didn't see how it was so surprising—coming up with this stuff was part of his practice when his grandpa trained him. Soku had to be able to use his Quirk in a number of situations, after all! "Excuse me, but can you still…?"

"Fly?" The boy wiped at his face with the sleeve of his jersey. When he groaned and shrugged it off instead, shoving his face into it proper, Soku could see the slits cut into the back. "A little, I think."

"And you carried her for a while, right?"

"Please tell me you aren't asking me to do it again."

Not the student, certainly. But Soku had a plan to make use of Touka's Quirk to get the upper hand. And then Soku could capture the student while she was blinded, and the boy with wings would still get his points… "Could you carry Yagami-san?"

Touka startled. She looked between the boy and Soku with her mouth agape. "H—How high are you thinking?" she stammered.

Despite the misgivings the two had, Soku somehow managed to convince them of his plan. His first step was making them harnesses from his wires, if only to reassure Touka and not have her dangling from the boy's hands. Once they were geared up and willing to listen, Soku could properly explain his train of thought. He wasn't the best when it came to people who were much, much faster than his wires could keep up with, but if this girl could make herself heavy then he'd have no problem keeping up with her. And if Soku could keep her attention on him long enough, while Touka and the boy hid in the sky, then catching her by surprise and getting her badge would be easier than facing her head-on all at once.

The boy grumbled to himself and stretched his wings. "Don't take this the wrong way, Yagami-san," he said to Touka, "but I'll only be able to carry you for about five minutes."

"That's plenty of time," Touka said. She looked to Soku as she shrugged off her own jersey and tied it around her waist by the arms. "You'll catch me if I drop in, right?"

"Better. A net will catch you." Soku flexed his fingers and stretched his arms. He hoped this wasn't pushing the limits of his use. The ball was a lot for him to begin with, and the harness had been a lucky guess. If he had to make an estimate, he probably had about two or three more uses of his Quirk before it started to hurt him. If he just stuck to swinging around, though, and nothing too complicated until the net…

As soon as Soku told them he was off, Touka was whisked away by the boy and up in the sky. They were still low enough to see, but not unless you knew to look for them. And since the boy had fled on foot from the student, maybe she'd assume him too weak to fly any further.

Soku clenched his fist and smiled to himself. "Here I go!" he muttered, jumping through the opening the boy had emerged from.

He only needed to crawl through the wreck for a few feet before he spotted the red leotard. She was hard to miss, like the tail of a meteor entering the atmosphere. If she pulled the stunt of rapid descent often, then she'd chosen a pretty good colour for presentation. Soku kept quiet as he snuck up behind her. One wire extended from his fingertip, snaking along the ground towards the student, as Soku crept around some more. She wasn't adamant on chasing the winged boy, it seemed, the girl facing the other way and casually looking around for signs of anyone.

She even stretched her arms high above her head and yawned. As Soku rounded a nearly-undisturbed tree, hooking the wire around its trunk, he heard her complain, "Honestly, Ichigo-chan. Making us show off before the school year even starts…"

He wasn't going to guess who Ichigo was. He just waited until the wire was close enough to start looping loosely around her ankle. "I wonder how Fuwari-chan's doing…" the girl went on to herself.

One loop, two, three… He looped it a fourth time to be certain, and once he was sure he had her he looked up at the sky. The white wings of the boy were easy to spot, but seeing specifics was just a tad difficult beyond that. Soku could only hope Touka knew when to drop in.

He emerged from behind the tree with a cheery, "Yahoo!"

The string of sounds that came out of the girl forced a giggle out of Soku. She really hadn't expected him? Wow, he was getting better at sneaking around!

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" she stressed. Soku giggled mischievously. His reaction only made her flush and fix her goggles, pulling them up from her eyes to rest on her forehead. "I'm serious! Who just announces themselves like that? You're meant to be protecting your badge from me!"

Soku hummed. "True," he agreed. He wound the wire around his hand. "But aren't you meant to be doing the same?"

Soku yanked the wire harshly. All at once the line went taut, the loops around her ankle snapping against her leg like a vice. Soku watched as she tumbled down to the ground, dragged by her leg to the tree by a few feet. She yelped, clearly caught by surprise a second time, and Soku could only snicker at the sight.

Almost as soon as she'd gone down, the girl rolled around and swung her legs around like a breakdancer flawlessly showing off their flexibility. It was Soku's turn to be caught by surprise now, the wire pulling _him_ back as the girl used his tether against him. Soku let out a yelp of his own as he collided with the tree, and he clung to its bark for dear life as the wire tightened around his hand and she just kept on pulling.

She was back on her feet now, continuing to tug on the wire around her ankle. "This'd make a good capture Quirk," she praised him. Soku laughed nervously. How damn strong was she? "What's your name, kid?"

"Y—Yaiya Soku," he ground out. His fingers were starting to go numb.

"Impact Event," she said in return. That was the name! God, how could he have forgotten it so easily? Ground Zero and Impact Event went together like butter and bread! "I hope you make it into Zenshi, Soku-kun."

With that declaration, Impact Event clenched her fist and swung it down against the wire. The blood drained from Soku's face at just the sound of it snapping, his stomach dropping to the ground as he stumbled back with the sudden absence of weight tugging at him. Impact Event casually bent down and unwound the wire from her ankle. When she stood back up, she smirked at Soku and lowered her goggles back over her eyes.

That wasn't good.

Soku managed to roll out of the way just as Impact Event threw herself at the tree. It damn near shattered under the force of her, the tree groaning almost as though in pain as it descended to the ground. Soku was lucky that he got away in time—air caught under the falling tree battered his face, leaves flying all over the place like a blizzard.

"Wow," he wheezed.

"Right?" Impact Event gushed. And then she casually began making her way over to Soku.

Well, now his options were extremely limited. Those wires were meant to withstand twenty tonnes before they could snap in two—and she'd just done it with the swing of her arm, no problem. Not only that, but she'd dragged Soku back long enough to distract _him_. He was meant to be distracting _her!_

Soku sucked in a deep breath. He glanced left and right, searching for _something_ to use along with his Quirk, but he was drawing blanks. Impact Event could _break_ his wires, for crying out loud. Was the weight adjustment really that drastic? What if she could go even further with it? What if even using multiple wires wrapped around each other wouldn't be enough?

He dared a glance at the sky once more. He could still see those wings, hovering right above them. Impact Event paused, followed his gaze with lightning speed.

Crap.

"Well I'll be damned," she said to herself. "Guy can still fly after that crash landing. Good for him."

Soku acted before thinking. He whipped out a wire and snared it on her goggles. Before Impact Event had so much of a chance to grab the wire, he yanked back the goggles and released them. The loud slap against her face was a pretty good indicator of how much the impact hurt.

Impact Event let out a silent scream and bent over herself. She pulled her goggles off of her face and rubbed her eyes frantically.

"Why does everyone go for the goggles!?" she cried.

Soku couldn't help himself. He snorted a laugh instead of doing the logical thing—running. Not that he really needed to, because as soon as Impact Event was distracted once more, a familiar voice called for him. Touka's voice.

"Yaiya-san! Hurry!" she yelled. Soku jumped to his feet and put everything he had into making a net between two trees. His fingers were already starting to hurt, the effort needed to force the wires out becoming greater and greater; even as Impact Event slowly recovered and Touka descended, Soku couldn't help panicking that he wouldn't make it in time.

Touka landed on the net with a bounce, and the moment she did she dropped to the ground and landed on her feet. Soku dropped to his knees and hid his face in his shirt. He didn't see the big flash that Touka let out, but he sure as hell heard Impact Event witness it. He kept his face hidden as Touka ran past him, knocking down Impact Event and roughhousing for just a few seconds.

And then Touka's hand gripped the collar of his shirt, urging him to move with her as she ran from the scene. Only after they'd sprinted for a time did Soku poke his head out again. A glance over his shoulder saw no pursuers. Impact Event had been left in the dust.

"Did you get her badge?" Soku panted. Touka turned around to run backwards, displaying the badge with a grin. Soku cheered, only to pause when Touka—still running backwards—tripped over a large branch on the ground.

She was in no rush to get back up again. Instead, Touka laid there with the badge and laughed. "I can't believe that actually worked."

* * *

Yoko was all but sitting on him by the time it became clear Kira intended to leave the hiding spot. The damn girl was stronger than she looked, hissing at him to stop being an idiot; but Kira knew what was truly keeping him planted, almost literally, to the ground right now. Momoiro had even pitched in on the restraining, keeping Kira flat on the ground with vines around him to hold him in place. Neither wanted to do anything reckless, it seemed, but Kira couldn't care less about what either of them wanted. That golden ticket was _his_. They could fail, for all he cared.

"Get _off_," he snarled. Yoko clamped a hand over his mouth, but Kira bit deep into the skin as soon as she did. He could taste blood in his mouth, and immediately Kira activated his Quirk. Information flooded his mind, his body working to accommodate both Yoko's Quirk and the alchemical Quirk he'd snagged earlier.

Yoko cradled her hand and scowled down at Kira. "We can't run out without a plan!" she insisted. "She'll floor us!"

But Kira wasn't listening. His mind ran through what it now knew of Yoko's Quirk, the way it operated. Acid raid, hail, snow, strong winds… What had he eaten for breakfast? He'd swallowed some toothpaste by accident this morning… He had mentaiko, hadn't he? On rice? Despite the weight Yoko placed on him, Kira heaved and huffed. The cloud was developing—part of her? An extra, disembodied limb?—and slowly, ever so slowly making its way up from his stomach and into his throat.

"Igarashi-san, I think he's suffocating," Momoiro whispered quickly. Yoko looked mildly offended. Regardless, once she saw Kira struggling to breathe out, she crawled off of him and nursed her hand.

All at once, the cloud forming inside him spilled out from his lips and nostrils. Kira felt a weight off of his chest, not just from Yoko's removal, and now he could sense the cloud proper. It hovered over him for a while, smaller than Yoko's own, and the other two stared with their jaws dropped at the boy.

Mentaiko was enough to bring about a rain of fire. Not even a snake would survive Kira's onslaught.

"What in the hell—" was all Yoko could say. She was quickly silenced by Kira using her Quirk—_his_ Quirk now—in conjunction with the other. All at once the hiding space was engulfed in flames, burning away at the roots above and filling the lungs of Momoiro and Yoko with smoke. The vines holding Kira down were reduced to ashes.

Yoko had the right idea to tackle Momoiro out of the flames' harm. He was probably a tad more flammable than other people, Kira thought as he rose to his feet, and it would do him no good to accidentally kill another applicant. But as long as they didn't die, he wouldn't find any trouble waiting on the other side of those gates.

"Takemi—" Yoko coughed harshly into her shirt as she pulled Momoiro behind her. "What the _fuck_!"

"Shut up," Kira drawled. The girl scowled at him, the rush to escape his flames having dishevelled her pigtails, and flipped him off without so much as a second thought.

Kira narrowed his eyes. Disrespectful girl. She was more than aware now that he could destroy Gorgon, and she wanted to boss _him_ around? Screw her, he thought as he turned his attention back to the forest. Somewhere in here, having already moved on from the hiding place, Gorgon slithered about like the coward she was.

It was time to raze this forest and take his trophy.

The symbol for fire glowed hot and red on the back of his hand, and as he raised it high above his head the cloud followed. Up and up it drifted, until finally Kira sucked in a deep breath and called it to a halt. Just shy of the treetops, just shy of the highest overturned oak tree. Ever so slowly Kira closed his hand into a fist, one finger at a time. The sun was blocked out by the cloud as it spread, as it darkened, and then all that illuminated the area was the faint red glow that began to permeate through the cloud's core.

The sight was truly apocalyptic. With the boost from the first Quirk, the cloud rained down balls of fire like it was the most natural thing in the world. One tree set alight, two, three; soon the area around Kira was transformed from a ruined forest to an absolute hellscape. Everywhere he looked for Gorgan as he and his cloud advanced was awash in flames, each one reaching higher and higher towards the sky as they consumed everything around them.

This would flush his trophy out in no time, he thought. He could hear some applicants screaming at the flames and trying to flee, and Kira couldn't help the roll of his eyes as he advanced. These wimps would never have survived UA's entrance exam if Zenshi's was forcing them to run with their tails between their legs.

His badge blipped wildly on his shirt, the screen flashing from green to yellow to red in rapid succession. It wouldn't matter what his score was, soon; he'd have Gorgon's badge in his hands and he'd be on the fast track to 1-A at Zenshi.

He could hardly hear the rattling or the snapping of twigs anymore. But he definitely heard a new voice calling out to him, reprimanding him from a distance.

"Are you insane!?" the girl's voice demanded. Her throat sounded raw from the smoke, yet she still approached him. Kira turned in the direction of the voice, only to pause and grin at the sight of his challenger. Clad in a short peplos and decorated in gold, Gorgon slithered angrily towards Kira as the cuffs around her arms began to unfurl.

Shields, he pondered? They'd definitely make for excellent close-range defence, especially if her human half was weaker than her snake half. But, he found as she got closer, only one cuff revealed a shield. The other shot straight out to form a blade, its sharp edges lined with gold like the rest of her.

"You could kill someone!" she continued.

Kira looked her up and down casually. "Nah," he decided. And with that out of the way, Kira charged her. Immediately he activated the earth symbol, forming stalagmites from the ground at his feet and circling them both like a barricade. He wouldn't give Gorgon a chance to run, not when he had her in his sights at last.

Gorgon was fast, faster than he expected someone with a snake body so large and long to be. She was a viper in the body of an anaconda, an amalgamation of everything that made snakes—no, perhaps all predatory reptiles—so feared among the food chain. Her blade sliced at the air around him, hoping to stop him in his tracks, but Kira had better plans. He slid along the ground as he had earlier, deftly avoiding all of her attacks and closing the distance between them to strike. Kira propelled himself with each lunge by pillars of earth, practically throwing his whole weight into each punch he hit Gorgon with.

One particular punch landed against her jaw. And while it dislocated like the most natural thing in the world, as expected of a snake, Gorgon backhanded Kira with her shield. Her strength was incredible—Kira was _flying_ through the smoke and the flames, over the stalagmites and towards scorched earth. He activated the air symbol, wind whipping around him and allowing him to float gracefully to his feet.

Kira would have to up the ante with this. He dug his feet into the ground and then dropped to his knees, planting his hands deep within the dirt. Both hands glowed—one red and the other brown—and then all he could feel was an incredible heat. His skin burned, his bones ached, but still he powered through the task. Around him the earth began to warm, to glow, and what was once solid began to ooze and bubble; the ground beneath him was no more, magma slowly bubbling to the surface and spreading its reach.

It was just as soon as Gorgon knocked down the stalagmites and pursued once more than Kira attacked, fully intending to end this weak exchange between them. The magma pulled itself into a mound in front of Kira, building and building and building. The pressure grew and grew the more heat he fed into it, and then finally, as Gorgan began closing the distance, it burst. It was like watching a volcano erupt, bright heat flying all over the place without rhyme or reason. Kira pulled his hands—his now burnt, shaking hands—from the earth and broke into a sprint. The backs of his hands shifted from red and brown to blue and white, and the angry glow from his cloud rapidly subsided.

Gorgon was assaulted with the magma point-blank. She screamed and tried to back away, only to trip over her own trail and catch herself on the remains of the stalagmites. Kira kept running, even as the heat in the air was replaced with a deathly chill; his hands ached, his skin raw and blistering faster than he'd anticipated, but still he pushed for the wind and water to overcome the storm of fire.

The first drops of rain were lukewarm, still under the influence of the remaining heat. But very quickly it turned to chilled water, practically turning to frost with every drop that landed on his face and hands. The fire around him began to subside, the freezing water dousing them one by one. The smoke was beginning to clear, pushed away by the cold winds that gently nudged them along.

Kira practically crawled atop the burnt Gorgon, fists clenched and teeth grinding against each other as he laid one punch, two, three into her face. Whatever fight she had left before being burned was gone, the gold she was decorated in slowly melting against her skin. She was struggling to even keep up with Kira by the time he stopped—top student, his ass—and practically let him take her badge. Pathetic, he thought. If this was the best Zenshi's students had to offer, then what was even the point?

He pinned the badge to his shirt and let out a long, tired breath. It wasn't very often that Kira hurt himself to get the job done, but even those rare instances were never this bad. His hands trembled as he held them in front of him, letting the rain soothe the skin as it finally picked up into a heavy downpour.

And then, like an announcement of his victory, his own badge blipped to signal the end of the exam. All Kira had left to do was walk back to the entrance as the rain continued to pour.

Zenshi had no choice but to accept him into 1-A now.


	7. 06: Welcome to Class 1-B

**Hopefully this isn't too rushed towards the end? I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think of our first chapter with everyone assembled! If there are any errors, feel free to let me know and I'll fix 'em ASAP!**

* * *

**Practical Classes Arc: START**

**Arc Theme: Ambivalent - Eve**

* * *

**06 - Welcome to Class 1-B**

Shushu all but kicked down their bedroom door the morning he heard back from Zenshi Academy. It'd been three weeks—three long, quiet weeks—of waiting and _knowing_ he'd failed, and even with the envelope sitting on his desk, Teru just couldn't bring himself to be excited. He'd broken a badge, he'd gone into the red, he'd dragged _Ryo_ down with him. Even when Tsuna texted him, excited about catching the golden ticket, Teru couldn't bring himself to lie and say he felt good about his chances.

It didn't help that, over those few weeks of waiting, he'd received a few texts from Shiichi asking about his well being. Asking if Teru had considered the warning he'd been given about not being suited for heroics. Asking, like they still had any sort of positive relationship to salvage, how his mother and sister were lately. The pit in Teru's stomach had just grown, infinite in its depths, with every new message that appeared on his screen.

So it was no surprise that Shushu had come into their room to the sight of Teru huddled under his covers. He hadn't made much of an effort to go out after those first two weeks, giving up pretending like he hadn't just proven everyone right about his Quirk and its absolute uselessness.

"Didja look at your letter?" Shushu asked him. She flopped onto the bottom bunk and kicked up at the mattress above her, knocking Teru's side and nudging him into responding.

"No point," Teru grumbled. Shushu kicked his mattress harder. He groaned down at her and rolled as close to the wall as he could. "I _failed,_ Shu-nee. And the kid who was with me probably failed too."

"And the letter said that?"

"I told you, there's no point in opening it. I already know."

Shushu snorted at him. She grumbled at his insistence, called him too pessimistic for this household. She wasn't wrong—Megumi was the resident pessimist, and Teru was meant to be more of an opportunist. But now it felt like the roles were reversed, with every visit to the kitchen for food ending in Megumi mentioning a nice culinary school she found online for Teru to look at. He listened as Shushu rolled off the bed and made her way to the desk. Teru clamped his hands over his ears when he heard her tear open the thick envelope.

"You don't need to—"

"_Hello, Kousaki Teruki-san. I pray this message finds you well._"

Ah. That was Poltergirl's voice, wasn't it? No, it wasn't light enough; this woman's voice was too husky. Another staff member from Zenshi?

"Hey, shrimp, you just got your name said aloud by the Number Twenty-Three hero." Shushu walked back to the bunks as the tape continued playing. Skathi, the hero speaking, was giving a spiel about how the test for Zenshi had functioned and how applicants were scored. "Come outta your hidey-hole and bask in her amazonian glory."

"She's not named after an Amazonian…" Teru tried weakly. Shushu snuck a hand onto his bunk and yanked away his blanket. "Shu-nee!"

"_Regarding your application to Zenshi Academy, we have noted your desire for any one of our departments for study. It's a very admirable dedication to get into your school of choice, even if you have to resort to General Studies and cast aside the world of heroics. And for choosing Zenshi, after all that has happened to our students, I thank you_."

"Turn it off, already!" he snapped at Shushu. His sister just stuck her tongue out at him and looked back over at the tape. The room was dimly lit with the image of Skathi's bust, her expression too neutral for Teru to figure out if he was right.

Skathi's image paused, her eyes sliding shut almost thoughtfully, before they opened again. "_Kousaki-san, despite your actions in the exam that led to a badge being destroyed, it is with great pleasure that I officially welcome you to Zenshi Academy as one of its students._"

"You passed," Shushu echoed. She looked over her shoulder with a grin at Teru. "And you thought you'd failed."

Teru puffed out his cheeks. So he passed—so what? Skathi mentioned General Studies, which meant Teru was probably heading straight for a regular education while everyone else went on to a life of heroics. Hell, he probably even doomed Ryo to General Studies, too. Zenshi wasn't UA—they didn't advance students to the Heroics Department if some miracle forced a student out of A or B Class or whatever. Zenshi was straightforward. You worked in teams, you graduated in teams, and you failed in teams.

Teru opened his mouth to argue, but Skathi apparently wasn't done.

"_Furthermore_," she went on, her expression softening, "_it is my honour to tell you that you will be in the Heroics Department. While B Class may not be as glamourous as A Class at times, it is still a tremendous accomplishment to make it this far through determination and teamwork. You should be proud, Kousaki-san_—_you and Torihikiko-san, both_."

The tape came to an end, the light fading until the room was shrouded in darkness once more. Teru sat still as a statue, unsure of how to act now that everything he'd felt, everything he'd known, was proven absolutely wrong. He hadn't failed—he made it to B Class. He hadn't made Ryo fail—Skathi all but stated he passed too. His blunder hadn't cost him—his blunder wasn't even a detracting factor.

Shushu flicked on the light, having navigated her way deftly to the far wall in the dark. As soon as she and Teru met gazes, Teru knew what he had to do. He snatched his phone from its charger, stuffed it in the pocket of his sweatpants, and dropped from the edge of the top bunk, straight to the floor.

"What's the plan, _hero_?" Shushu asked, a smug smile on her face. Teru didn't even bother to be smarmy in his reply.

"First," he muttered, "I burn every single culinary school application I filled out. Then I pack my bags to move into the dorms. And _then_ I tell Shiichi to fuck off with his condescending bullshit."

Shushu just grinned at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. "Attaboy," she told him.

* * *

Tsuna waiting outside his house for him was a surprise. Especially with her bike next to her and with an extra space behind her for a passenger.

"Like hell I'm going to school without you on our first day!" she all but insisted when he tried to walk around her.

Megumi and Shushu saw him off with a mixture of concern and amusement, the sight of Teru clinging to Tsuna at the back of her bike like something out of a cheesy shoujo manga. At least this saved him a few minutes of walking, he thought. But Tsuna rode her bike way too fast for him to comfortably watch the road.

"When you texted me back and said you got in, I was so excited!" Tsuna told him. They were well out of Teru's street, making their way to the main roads that led to the subway. Zenshi wasn't too far from Teru's house—or Tsuna's, apparently—but one train still had to be caught in order to reach it. "We're gonna be apartmentmates!"

"I don't think that's a word, Keima-chan."

"It is now! 1-B shares the same building as 1-A—you'll just be one floor under me." She turned a corner violently. Teru squealed to himself as chains from under Tsuna's Zenshi uniform wrapped around his waist to steady him. "And can I just say you look dapper in that thing? I would've been fine with a regular gakuran, but the suspenders look is snazzy."

She said as she had her suspenders around her elbows instead of over her shoulders. Teru wasn't willing to critique that while she controlled the bike, though.

Ever since Megumi had found out he'd passed, though, there was one thing he couldn't get past. Tsuna was so chipper about applying to Zenshi, so certain of herself and her path. But…

"Are you going to be okay in 1-A?" Teru asked. Tsuna slowed the bike a bit, listening to him proper. "With the killer, I mean. The last kid from Zenshi was meant to go on to 2-A this year."

Tsuna hummed to herself. She pedalled casually, keeping up with their good time for the train. "No," she decided after a while.

"No?"

"Nope. Nada. That girl from UA got out alive because of the Zenshi kid helping her, right? So maybe everyone at Zenshi is like that—looking out for each other." She kicked her legs out and let the bike drift along the road. "Aaaaaand if we all look out for each other, the killer won't get away with nabbing one of us again. Right?"

Teru let out a dry, dubious sound. "It might not be that easy. I mean, what if—"

"Then I'll have my _amazing_ hero Terurin around to protect me!" Tsuna let out a loud laugh. Teru just flushed red, uncertain if it was thanks to the cutesy nickname again or Tsuna's unwavering faith in him. It wasn't exactly something he was used to, after all.

"T—Teru! Not Terurin! And I told you I barely passed!"

"Details!" Tsuna began pedalling as fast as she could again. Teru was lucky the chains acted as a makeshift seat belt—he was pretty close to falling off at this point. "You're in now! And you know Zenshi isn't as harsh as UA on its students' performance."

"Still—" Teru glanced past her shoulder and cut himself off. They were approaching a crossing, cars still passing by at a steady rate. "_Red light!_"

The chains around Teru's waist flew outwards, snagging on nearby telephone poles and phone booths as Tsuna slammed her hands against the brakes. She even braced her heels against the pavement, scuffing her poor pink sneakers in an attempt to stop. Teru screeched the closer they got to the road, and he only paused for breath when they came to a sudden halt. The bike was jostled, both Tsuna and Teru almost falling off from the impact, and then they were completely still. Right in front of the crossing and among the crowd of regular students watching in awe.

Teru crawled off the bike. His heart was hammering away in his chest. Is this what a rabbit felt like whenever someone snuck up on it? He could see the appeal in making a break for it, if so. His legs shook and he gripped his bag tightly, refusing to so much as look at Tsuna's bike.

"I'm walking," he said dryly.

Tsuna's bouncy attitude seemed to have been deflated some by the blunder. "Y—Yeah… I think I will too."

It was safe to say that the rest of the trip to Zenshi, train ride included, was a lot less hectic. Every so often he spotted students in uniforms for other schools, more often than that he'd see students in Zenshi uniforms. Some of them kept their distance, others refused to even look at him and Tsuna. They all had the white ties signifying they were first-years, starting from the bottom just like Teru and Tsuna were.

All but one they caught the eye of. A second-year, Teru assumed with the blue tie, and something about him was familiar. Not just how small he was, but the mutation his Quirk manifested as. The kid didn't even need to wear shoes, his feet were too animal-like—

"Wonderland!" Tsuna called. The albino boy startled, looking over at Tsuna with an alarmed gaze in his tired, baggy eyes. As soon as he recognised Tsuna he relaxed some, but then his expression fell further.

Oh God, was this the top student she got the badge from? The bunny boy? Teru really wasn't surprised at the look he gave the girl.

Yet the rabbit-footed boy approached anyway. A few older people, businessmen and women no doubt, paused to look down at him as he passed. For the most part, though, Wonderland went unnoticed as he made his way towards Tsuna.

He was fishing his phone out of his pocket by the time he was within talking distance. He didn't look up at them, tapping away at the phone's screen the whole time. Teru looked at Tsuna awkwardly.

"Uh, Keima-chan…"

And then the boy held up his phone for both of them to see.

'_I don't know why I was even surprised to see you made it in,'_ the screen declared.

Tsuna snorted a laugh, her shoulders shaking lightly. Yeah, this was definitely the one she got the badge from.

Out of habit, Teru cleared his throat and mumbled, "Sorry for calling you over."

The boy shook his head and tapped at his phone again. '_It's no bother. Are you Terurin?_'

Teru's cheeks went red a second time that morning. He glared at Tsuna, only to be met with an innocent smile and a tilt of her head. Honestly… If everyone in her class was going to know him as Terurin, he'd never grow out of the cutesy names.

At least he could give 1-B the correct name to use. At least Ryo used the right name, he thought with a bit of relief.

"According to Keima-chan," he finally sighed. Tsuna patted him on the shoulder. It was like a silent reminder he would always be Terurin to her. "I'm Kousaki Teruki. Feel free to call me Teru for short."

The boy nodded. '_Odoriba Usamaru. Class 2-A._'

Their train ride continued like that—a peaceful conversation with their senior, learning about the school and some of his classmates. It really didn't take long for Usamaru to warn them about 3-A's class president, Ichigo, and her over-excitable ways. It sounded no different to dealing with Tsuna, Teru thought to himself, and when Usamaru caught him glancing at the girl he simply gave him a solemn nod. Teru was absolutely right in his hunch.

At least there was only one Tsuna. Teru couldn't imagine how hectic three of her would be.

"Odoriba-senpai, can we get a hint with who our homeroom teachers are?" Tsuna held her hands up in a prayer motion. Usamaru looked up at her dryly. "Pretty please? Terurin's nervous—"

"_Teru_. And I'm _not_—"

"—and he's only seen Skathi and Poltergirl. I wanna let my amazing hero know it's not all scary—"

Teru clamped a hand over her mouth. "Stop talking," he begged.

Usamaru's phone was shoved between the two. Teru blinked, surprised he'd answered, and it was entirely earnest. Almost a paragraph, but still earnest.

'_2-A got a new homeroom teacher, so maybe you got our old one? We had Kronos. Don't hold me to that. And don't worry about Poltergirl_—_after a week of knowing her the stern mask crumbles pretty easily. Just ask her when she's meant to be getting married and she'll be blubbering too much to intimidate_.'

"Juicy," Tsuna said into Teru's hand. Teru snatched it back and rubbed his palm against his shirt. "We never got to bully our teachers over their love lives in middle school."

"I really don't think that was the point of what he said."

"Well it's the point I'm taking from it."

Usamaru just shrugged. He really must've been used to this kind of attitude if he was willing to brush it off so easily.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Even as it stopped, Usamaru didn't stray away from the two juniors; he stuck by them, practically leading them along the path to Zenshi as, one by one, they all stepped out of the carriage.

With a guide in the form of a student and a much calmer, quieter Tsuna by his side, Teru finally felt at ease starting his first day at Zenshi.

* * *

Seat twelve, seat twelve… Behind someone named Kyubi Jun, in front of a Hagane Tetsuya, to the right of one Yurenagi Isa, and to the left of Atashi Lyoko. He was boxed in on all sides, according to the sheet in his hands. Teru let out a long sigh as he continued along the hall to 1-B. He was hoping for a window seat—main characters totally always had those, right? Man, and here he was thinking he'd have an underdog story on his hands.

He puffed his cheeks out and folded the paper in half. At least he was early enough to get comfy, prepare himself for whatever it was Zenshi had in store. Tsuna had the right idea to ask about their homeroom teachers, but Teru really wished he'd asked what the first week would be like while he had the chance. He wasn't sure if every upperclassmen was going to be as generous as Usamaru with such information. Teru really wasn't eager to go after Go Mamoru and find out, either—he'd gotten enough of the boy during that stressful entrance exam.

His thoughts broke off abruptly when he caught sight of what had to be class 1-B's entrance. It was really hard to miss, honestly—a giant door, probably meant to accommodate taller students, with a giant B on its surface. If Teru looked a little higher, he'd see the small sign confirming his suspicions just above it.

"Hoo boy," he said to himself. He reached out ever so slowly with a shaking hand, but before he could grip the handle the door was ripped open from the other side.

A very, _very_ pretty good stood before him, beaming down at him and gesturing for him to enter.

"Welcome to 1-B!" she cheered. Teru was taken aback by her appearance for a few seconds. She was dazzling, with her sleek brown hair and heart-shaped face. Even Teru had to admit, when his eyes unconsciously drifted down to her uniform, she had an attractive figure.

It was intimidating.

"Come, come," the girl urged him, even grabbing his arm with soft hands. Teru let her lead him inside, too dumbfounded to so much as resist. If this _was_ 1-B, then his first impression on his classmates was… not what he expected.

There were two other girls inside when he entered, one in the chair just beside his own. The lack of other students was concerning, but when he glanced at the clock on the wall his anxiety cleared a little. He was early, after all; the others could've been checking in on their dorms while they had time before class.

The girl next to his seat had snow white skin, her hair just as white and reaching her lower back in length. Her eyes were undoubtedly focused on Teru as the other girl guided him in, but it was unnerving to see black sclera and pure white pupils and irises focus on him like that. She looked positively ghostly, and he almost couldn't help being reminded of Poltergirl when he met her stare.

The other girl, closer yet still near the back of the room, had wavy hair cut to shoulder-length; her chocolate brown eyes glanced at Teru once, fleeting, before she looked away again. She was shying away, he thought when he saw the nervous shade of red tinge her ears. He could remember feeling like that back in middle school, back when he had to reintroduce himself to his friends and classmates.

The tall girl's hand was on his shoulder, still friendly and encouraging. "It's so good to see a classmate," she told him. "The three of us got here a day early thanks to our recommendations, and it's been positively _exciting_ guessing what our peers will be like."

Teru tried to smile. It felt more like a grimace. He _really_ hoped they weren't theorising based on names or anything.

"W—Well," he tried, "it's nice to meet you. I'm Kousaki—"

"Teruki-kun!" The tall girl got even more excited. "You're next to Isa-chan's desk! Doesn't he look lovely, Isa-chan?"

There was no doubt the ghostly girl was Yurenagi Isa. She looked him up and down, almost pausing for a moment as though considering what to say. But as quickly as she'd looked at him, she glanced away again and stared at the window.

"Don't mind Isa-chan," the tall girl went on. "She's quiet. Atsuko-chan is quiet, too, but not as much as Isa-chan."

At the mention of her name, the girl towards the back of the room squeaked in alarm. Teru glanced at her, wondering if she was okay, but she was slowly rising from her seat and smoothing out her uniform nervously. It was like the tall girl's mention of her summoned her for introductions.

She inched closer to them, still keeping some distance. Teru thought it kind of cute, the way she chewed her lip and kept her gaze to the floor—she was like a shrinking violet, and as soon as he put a name to the idea he began to kick himself. Mentally, of course. How could he have forgotten that shy girls were Shiichi's type?

"M—My name is H—Himura Atsuk—ko," she stammered. Atsuko fidgeted and pulled at her skirt. "It's a pleasure to meet you K—Kousaki-kun."

Teru, in a total knee-jerk reaction, waved his hands and said, "Oh, Teru is fine, if you want to call me that! It's nice to meet you too, Himura-san."

The tall girl was fawning over him all over again. "So polite too!" she squeed. She patted him on the head affectionately—and Teru couldn't lie, it felt kinda nice. Like he'd just won the approval of an unconditionally loving sibling. Or like when Shushu was more outgoing in their childhoods. "I'm Jiai Mami, and you're _absolutely_ welcome to just call me Mami, Teru!"

"I—I look forward to working with you," Teru muttered. And then, as an afterthought, "Mami-san."

It only took five minutes after the introductions for more students to come in. True to Teru's expectations, they'd had the forethought to check out their dorms before coming to class. The first two to enter were both boys, one looking serious and ready for the day while the other was positively shaking with excitement as he walked through the door.

The excited one had wild, messy black hair with white tips, and his eyes reminded Teru of an unfinished cartoon character's—pure white, no irises or pupils to be seen. There was a birthmark across the bridge of his nose in a horizontal line, and a small mole could be seen on his left cheek. With a big smile on his face and a semi-serious salute, he declared to the four inside, "I'm Yaiya Soku! It's nice to meetcha!"

The second one, more serious than the first, was only the slightest bit shorter than Soku. His hair was more grey-ish silver than white like Teru and Isa's, and it had a sort of spiked look to it that added to his overall mature face. Dark grey eyes scanned the room as he said, "Let's do our best."

He hadn't even said his name as he walked towards his seat, cool and stoic, and Teru scrambled for the sheet of paper with the seating arrangement printed on it. But there was no need for him to check the name—the boy came to a stop behind Teru's desk, and immediately he recalled all the names of those surrounding him.

Hagane Tetsuya, seat thirteen. Teru went stiff, paper crumpling in his hands, as he stuttered at the boy, "Let's do our best, Hagane-san."

Tetsuya stared at him for a moment. And then, as he hung his bag on the side of his desk, he nodded back to Teru in acknowledgement. _Likewise_, he seemed to be saying.

As soon as Tetsuya sat down and organised himself, the door opened again. A girl, statuesque and with two black horns on her head like something out of myth, silently made her way in and gave everyone her stared a quick nod. She wasn't unlike Tetsuya, stoic and calm, but at the very least she stopped and said, "Masamune Azumi. Nice to meet you all."

Mami was back in full force with her excitement. She fluttered to Azumi and gushed over her appearance, and despite how far they were from each other Teru couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by the ray of sunshine Mami was proving to be. Even Tsuna wasn't this positive. Or this energetic. But then again, he was up close and personal with the girl for a mere two days. Maybe Tsuna would still win out in the excitement department.

But at least someone was lifting the mood that seemed to be slowly settling over them. 1-B wasn't 1-A. It wasn't the glitz and glamour people expected at hero schools, as far as Teru knew. At least Mami was giving people good things to think on their first day.

Two more, after Azumi—both with a tail and animal ears, both presenting as something predatory in the food chain. A fox boy and some kind of leopard girl, and Teru watched for the seats they gravitated towards with his seating chart in hand. They didn't immediately go to their seats—the leopard girl actually hesitated by the door, as though waiting for someone, and the fox boy jogged to the back of the class as soon as he saw Azumi in her seat.

They must have worked together in the exam, Teru thought. Why else would the fox boy cheer, "Masamune-san! You made it too!"

The boy bounded back to his seat, and Teru could get a good look at him the closer he got. Every so often he glanced down at the paper, at the names near the desks he passed. He'd be hard to miss, that much was for sure—even if Teru was reflecting something off of his jewel skin, that reddish-orange mess of hair would never go ignored. And then he came to a stop at Teru's desk, and he looked him up and down with a toothy grin. There were even sharpened canines that poked out mischievously.

"You must be Kousaki-kun," he greeted. Teru looked down at his sheet in alarm. Atashi Lyoko? Kyubi Jun? _Which one_? "I've got the seat in front of you. Name's Kyubi Jun, and we're gonna do great! Call it a hunch."

Teru nodded and started smoothing out the chart. God, he was just destroying it every time he picked it up again. "I look forward to working with you, Kyubi-san."

Jun grinned even more. He settled into his seat just as the leopard girl walked back in—this time with a slightly taller boy in tow. He had three eyes, all shut as he tried to catch his breath, and they both talked quietly to each other in the doorway for a moment or two. The leopard girl patted his shoulder, probably asking if he was okay, and then the boy was standing back up to his full height and sucking in a long, steady breath.

"Okay," he said as he exhaled, "I'm ready."

When he opened his eyes, he scanned the room ever so slowly. Teru could see a flurry of emotion flit through all three, the boy's fingers clutching at his chest as the girl stood close by his side. From one corner of the room to the other, he seemed to be burning the faces of the small amount of students in 1-B at this very moment.

And then he was hiccuping, tears welling up in his eyes. Teru raised his brows. What was the matter?

"You guys all made it…" he whimpered. The smile on his face grew and grew as the girl rubbed his back. "I—I knew you all would, b—but seeing it in the present…"

And that was all he said before he began wiping at his face with his sleeve. Teru was even more confused than before, and he wasn't the only one. Mami was by their side within seconds and even Atsuko was rising from her desk to help. But the leopard girl brushed her grey bangs out of her eyes and shook her head.

"It's confusing at first," she told Mami, just loud enough for the rest of the class, "but his Quirk lets him see the future. Or, different branches of the future? I'm not caught up entirely with it. But he's happy everyone he knew from the visions is here now."

The boy nodded vehemently. Through his tears, he said, "K—Koizumi Mi—Mirato. Let's— Let's do our…"

Mami placed a hand atop his strawberry-blond hair. She really was like a big sister, Teru thought idly. "This must be overwhelming for you, Mirato-kun. But now you have all year to experience those happy memories again with us, one day at a time. Right?"

Mirato was guided to his desk by the leopard girl and Mami, just in front of Isa and to the left of Jun. When he was seated and calmer, he urged the leopard girl to introduce herself. She fixed the braid behind her, making sure it wasn't too loose, and her tail swayed for a moment before it finally curled around her leg. She took a stand in front of the teacher's desk, facing everyone, and bowed deeply.

"I'm Nekota Miyuki. It's nice to meet you all."

Well, that was more than half of the class introduced, at least. Teru slumped against his desk and looked over his chart again, counting the seats waiting to be filled. Despite how much he wanted to speculate on everyone's names, much like the recommendation girls probably had, Teru couldn't stop himself from lingering on Ryo's name.

Ryo made it into Zenshi with him. It was hard to swallow on top of his own admission. They'd been in the red, been so close to failing—but they _made it_. And they were in the same class to boot.

It was a miracle, if he ever saw one.

A hand entered his field of vision, knocking softly on his desk once. Teru startled—there were more people in the class now, how hadn't he noticed them?—and he looked up to see who'd demanded his attention.

Speak of the devil, Teru thought with a slowly growing smile, and he shall come. Ryo settled his hand on his hip and smirked down at Teru, bag slung over his shoulder and a frappuccino in his other hand.

"You never told me your favourite ice cream flavour," Ryo said in place of a greeting. Teru blinked at him. Right, they'd discussed that during the exam. He couldn't figure out why Ryo would want to know now though.

Teru cleared his throat. "I like, um… It's called 'blue moon'. Tastes like marshmallow, and I like sweet things, so…"

Ryo nodded. He walked backwards to his desk, throwing Jun a greeting on his way, and set down his frappuccino and his bag. And then, like a goddamn magician at a children's party, he pulled a plastic-wrapped bar from thin air. He walked back to Teru and set it on his desk.

"What's this?" Teru asked. He picked it up, only to flinch when the chill hit his fingers. No, it couldn't be, could it…?

"When a contract ends, I can give something in return to the contractee," Ryo said casually. "And since ice cream bars are easy, I wanted to know your favourite flavour."

Teru tore at the packaging. The contents fell back on his desk with a thud, and he stared down in awe at the smurf-blue ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate biscuits. Tailor-made, just for Teru.

"It'll still melt if you don't refrigerate it," Ryo said. That was all Teru needed to hear to snatch it up and stuff it in his mouth. He hadn't had blue moon ice cream in _forever_. Shushu never wanted to go out to the store with him and half of his friends didn't like the flavour either.

The gesture comforted him somewhat. Kind of like Usamaru's tips, Ryo's exchange gave him a sense of relief—a feeling that he was ready for day one at Zenshi. For day one as a hero-in-training. Teru ate his impromptu breakfast as he looked around the class again, hoping to catch up on the students he'd missed.

Seat eighteen—Mori Emiko, with her short, curly black hair and amber eyes. Her beige skin had blue scales along her forearms, and if Teru had to guess, the extra layers she wore with her uniform probably hid a few more patches of scales too. At first he thought she was some kind of lizard, but his mind drifted back to Jun and Azumi. There was every chance that Emiko, small and with a friendly expression on her face, could be something straight out of myth too.

Seat two—Suru Fuhai, not actually at her seat with her bag and coat but chatting happily with Emiko at the other girl's desk. Teru couldn't think of a kind way to describe her complexion—all he could think was "diseased" and be reminded of those creepy zombie movies that went wild with the visible veins. But she was polite and happy to see Emiko, and Emiko was just as happy to see Fuhai. She seemed nice, Teru thought. Maybe he could introduce himself later.

Seat five—Yagami Touka, to the right of Azumi and literally glowing as she adjusted her uniform. Teru felt something flicker through him for a moment—something he _knew_ he shouldn't feel—and the word came to mind involuntarily: _Ikémen_. Not only did he have to compete with Ryo and Go Mamoru, but now he had to compete with one of the girls in his class. Teru's hopes were deflating slowly. But, he reasoned, Touka seemed pretty chill at first glance. She looked to Azumi and gave her a lazy wave, and then she leaned threw a peace sign down to the desk in front of Azumi's—to Soku, who returned it with glee.

So that left… Four students? Teru counted the desks quickly, even as the door opened again and a boy entered the room. Three? Man, he was losing track of everyone sooner than he'd thought.

The seat to his right, seat seven, was filled with the one and only Atashi Lyoko. He had to be Lyoko, unless he'd mixed up his seats, but even if he wasn't it seemed that Tetsuya knew him. Another teamup in the exam, Teru thought.

"Pervert-san made it," Tetsuya deadpanned. The blond whipped his head around, his long ponytail almost swatting his own face while his skin turned beet red.

"I'm not a pervert!" he insisted. "It's my Quirk! You know that, Hagane-kun!"

Bright blue eyes snapped on to Teru's form. Oh shit, he'd been staring. Before Teru could so much as apologise, though, the blond began defending himself to the boy.

"I'm not a pervert, I swear," he insisted. "My Quirk—it _looks_ like it, but I get _zero_ enjoyment from it!"

"Per. Vert. San," Tetsuya drawled.

"Y—Yeah, well!" His voice dropped as though trying to whisper-yell. "You're the one who enabled me!"

"My actions were from peer pressure and you know it."

"_Like hell!_"

Jesus, Teru was lost. He couldn't even bring himself to interrupt—not that he needed to, especially with calm Tetsuya bringing the conversation back to a less… misinterpretable topic.

"Pervert-san, that's Kousaki Teruki. Kousaki-san, the pervert is Atashi Lyoko." Tetsuya leaned back in his seat, properly regarding the two boys. "We worked together in the exam."

Teru laughed nervously. "I figured…"

"If you ever need anything smashed, just be the S to his M—"

"Oh my _God_, I went through hell to get that badge and now _this_?"

As the duo bickered, Teru let his eyes roam again. One more seat had been filled in their exchange, across the room and between Atsuko and Fuhai. Seat three, belonging to one Bara Momoiro. He was pretty, among the bishounen ranks with Teru at least, and his heart swelled at the idea of a brother in arms. The ikémen-to-bishounen ratio had been evened in their class, and they wouldn't be overpowered if it stayed that way. Momoiro was quiet, though, and Teru stared around Lyoko for a while to see if he would talk to anyone.

No. He just sat down and folded his arms over his desk. He didn't even introduce himself to anyone around him.

Hopefully that would change in the coming days. Zenshi passed and failed its students in teams, and even Teru knew being distant would be a death sentence.

The second-to-last student to arrive was a girl with her suspenders in a similar state as Tsuna's, sloppily resting against her legs as she followed a small cloud into the room. Momoiro seemed to recognise her, and their gazes lingered on each other for a few seconds before the girl continued on her way. The cloud came to a stop next to Tetsuya's desk, and the girl—Igarashi Yoko—soon followed.

She set down a thermos on her desk and sank into her chair. Yoko leaned on her desk and used her cloud as a cushion, shoving her face in its soft depths.

"Tell me you guys had it easier than we did," she groaned. The boys all looked to each other, shrugged and looked back to Yoko. The lack of response just made her groan even more, like she wished for some kind of validation for her ordeal. Was her exam really that hard? Who the hell did they get, if there was someone worse than Galahad?

That was all but one student. All that was missing was Takemi Kira, situated behind Tetsuya. Despite how early they'd all come in to class, the missing student was still cutting it close for time. Teru turned back around in his seat and rested his chin in his hand. Passed in teams, failed in teams. Takemia Kira would want to hope his tardiness didn't affect whoever he was paired with at any given time.

The door opened again—but it wasn't the missing student who came in. No, it was an adult who walked in, his long, silky black hair cascading over the white yukata he wore. The clicks of his koppori geta echoed through the room as everyone fell deathly silent. Teru wasn't familiar with heroes, especially not heroes from Zenshi, but he'd never forget a getup like this if he did. So gentle, but the sharp angles of his face and the way he carried himself spoke highly of his capabilities.

The hero stopped at the desk. Painted lips quirked up into a graceful smile.

"Good morning, class," he said. For a moment Teru was mesmerised. Where did he categorise the hero? He couldn't tell. But looking at him was like looking at Mami for the first time—it was like Teru was a moth and he was being drawn to an open flame. "It's my absolute honour to be your homeroom teacher this year. Some of you may know me by my alias, Mononoke, but during class I would like you all to call me Mamonaka-sensei."

Mononoke… It fit the getup. If a villain saw him in the middle of the night, wandering alone, they'd definitely think of something supernatural before a hero.

Mononoke regarded his students with a smile, but his gaze paused on the empty desk behind Tetsuya. Class hadn't _officially_ started yet, but a student showing up after a teacher wasn't a good sign.

The man shook his head, almost as though pushing himself back on track, and reached into one of his long sleeves. With one flick of his wrist, a beautiful fan opened and masked the lower half of his face.

"As you all know, Zenshi has had some tragedies recently. Hako Shimeru had only just finished his first year here before his passing," he spoke. Some students shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't a topic anyone wanted to focus on when they'd just gotten into the school. "Zenshi's rules have been changed for everyone's safety as a result. From today onwards, you will be living in dorms. In order to leave the school grounds for _any_ reason, you must be accompanied by either a teacher or a family member waiting outside. And, now more than ever, your efforts in teamwork will be vital to not only your education, but also your future outside of Zenshi. It was through our teachings that Hako Shimeru assisted in the escape of a UA student, and it is his example that all of us among the staff hope students will follow."

He flicked the fan shut and sighed. "With that being said, I ask that you all be patient with each other. Not everyone is ready to—"

The door slammed open. Mononoke barely flinched, but his students were certainly surprised. Some even jumped out of their chairs—like Yoko and Momoiro—as the tardy student skulked inside.

In contrast to his cute appearance, Takemi Kira radiated danger. Rage. He glared daggers up at Mononoke as he walked in, and he could only sneer at his classmates as he located the empty seat behind Tetsuya. He was like a baby-faced delinquent, Teru thought. He hung his head, hoping to avoid eye contact, as Kira stalked past his desk and threw his bag on his own.

As he kicked his chair out from under his desk, Yoko bristled.

"Mamonaka-sensei," she started. Her voice was hard, demanding an explanation. "Why is _he_ here? You know what he did to the test site, don't you?"

Mononoke nodded ever so slowly. "I do, Igarashi. Please sit down. You too, Bara," he added at Momoiro.

"But Mamonaka-sensei—"

"Takemi being put in 1-B was not a mistake or an oversight on our part, Igarashi. However, the circumstance is personal and I cannot explain further. Please rest assure that the staff knows what they're doing." He nodded to her desk. "Now, sit."

When Yoko sat back down, Kira turned his venomous glare to her. They'd clearly known each other in the exam, and Kira had definitely done something to make an enemy of Yoko. Probably Momoiro too. But Teru couldn't pry—not right now, at least—and Mononoke was leaving no room for speculation as he demanded the students' attention again.

"I think I might skip the little speech I had planned," Mononoke sighed. He looked behind him, up at the clock on the wall. Class was just a few ticks of the second hand away from starting. "Instead, I will ask you all to prepare yourself for an exercise. UA has its Quirk Apprehension Tests, Shiketsu has its orientation—Zenshi is no different. I want you all to head for the lockers and change into your PE uniforms."

A hand was raised as soon as he'd finished. "Yes, Jiai?" Mononoke asked.

Mami lowered her hand again and asked what even Teru had begun to wonder: "Will we be performing a team-building exercise?"

Mononoke smiled. He raised the corners of his long sleeves up to his face, and his eyes narrowed almost cheekily.

"You could say that," he replied.


	8. 07: A Friendly Competition

**Past Ren: I'll make the team building exercise this and Future Ren can deal with it  
Future Ren, sleep deprived from back to back work: Past Ren you fucking bitch**

**Jokes aside, I had to cut this one short to kind of give some suspense on both the 1-B activities and the story's plot, but next chapter will focus more on just 1-B than the plot so we can move stuff forward. Thanks for the patience and reviews thus far, it really means a lot to see so much support ;-; I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as possible!**

* * *

**Arc Theme: Ambivalent - Eve**

* * *

**07 - A Friendly Competition**

Atsuko swallowed a thick lump in her throat. She tugged at the collar of her PE uniform, a basic jersey with Zenshi's insignia embroidered on the back, and sucked in a deep breath.

Well, here she was. After all the work Asami had put in for her recommendation, after all the reassurances, she was at Zenshi Academy. The school itself was close to where they lived, closer than UA at least, but Atsuko felt a bit more relief knowing that it was the school that produced teams that took her in. Some Quirks were difficult for heroes to function in solo gigs, and Atsuko's was no different.

She looked left and right at the other girls in the locker room. Surely they were in the same boat as her—well, not exactly the same, considering Atsuko's circumstances, but some of them must have applied for Zenshi because they couldn't do solo work. Even with all the… murders happening, especially to the boy who would have been their upperclassman this year, not many schools offered the same kind of emphasis on teamwork and creativity like Zenshi did.

A finger tapped her shoulder from behind. Atsuko startled, but she spun on her heel nonetheless to face the girl trying to get her attention. Mami, a fellow recommended student, was beaming down at her and rolling up the sleeves of her own jersey.

"You're gonna do great, Atsuko-chan!" she reassured her. Atsuko tugged at her collar again. Was her apprehension that obvious?

"R—Right!" Atsuko stammered. "You too, Jiai-san!"

Mami nodded proudly. She turned to talk to another nervous girl, ready to spread her positivity as far as she could before they all entered the gym.

Atsuko wasn't sure what the team building exercise would be. She'd heard things, of course, thanks to Asami's talks with the principal about Atsuko's circumstances. A lot of games that got intense, a lot of capture the flag that wasn't all that different from what the rest of the class had to go through to pass the entrance exam. But she just couldn't quite see how all of it would make them form teams proper. Would they all eventually merge with 1-A? Would they get to experiment with combining Quirks and strategies in between "games"? Zenshi was still a young school, still an almost unheard of school when you remove the dead students from the picture, so it still got overshadowed by UA and Shiketsu and the like.

So much to consider, Atusko thought nervously. She just hoped she could keep up.

The gym was standard, not unlike the gyms in middle schools used for sporting events, but it was still bigger than what Atsuko was used to seeing. Much like the classrooms that accommodated all kinds of Quirks, mutations and all, this gym had a few additions to its structure that made even the most pesky of mutations feel right at home.

She tucked her hands in the pockets of her jersey and chewed her lip. A few others were hanging back like her, either assessing the other students or just too nervous on their first day to jump right into the action. Part of her worried—worried that, despite her recommendation, the students who'd gone through the entrance exam would look down on her. She wasn't sure what Mami and Isa were capable of, being in different test groups and all, but compared to what the kids in the entrance exam went through Atsuko probably had her place in Zenshi served to her on a silver platter. She appreciated it, but what if this created a rift in the class?

Atsuko warily glanced to one group, where the boy who'd cried upon entering the class watched everyone with a big smile. His friend, Miyuki, had said that he could see the future—maybe things weren't as bad as Atsuko was thinking. He seemed to notice her stare, turning his gaze to her, and as Atsuko blushed furiously at being caught he beamed at her and gave her a big wave.

"Do your best, Himura-san!" he cheered at her.

Atsuko buried her face in her hands as a few other eyes jumped to her form. Ah, how embarrassing! But he meant well. And if he was cheering her on, even after seeing the future with her…

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad, even when she had to use her Quirk.

As everyone stood in their own little posses, slowly branching out from their groups in the entrance exam, Mononoke finally entered the gym in a matching PE uniform. Atsuko stared at him, at the stark contrast from his usual kimono and geisha makeup; he was shorter now without his koppori, and his long hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. This was most likely his civilian garb, Atsuko thought as he passed her.

Tucked under one of his arms was what looked to be a red rubber ball. As the class watched him, quietening down, Mononoke bounced the ball once on the hardwood floor. It let out a resounding _thwack_ when it made contact.

"I hope you're all ready," Mononoke said. "This may be testing the waters, but I still expect hard work from all of you."

"Yes!" a few students responded eagerly.

Mononoke leaned back on his heels and smiled at his students. Atsuko fiddled with the hem of her jersey's jacket. He looked a lot kinder when he wasn't dressed like a malevolent spirit, though a lot of pros had the same kind of contrasting looks nowadays.

"That said," he went on, "we'll start somewhere simple. How many of you played dodgeball in middle school?"

Oh dear, Atsuko thought.

A few hands rose, but the vast majority of the class hadn't played during their middle school years. They all knew what the game was, for sure; but it wasn't exactly something middle schools encouraged students to play during PE. Sometimes the risk of someone using their Quirk and hurting another student was too high.

Mononoke nodded thoughtfully. He scanned his class with a careful gaze before finally bouncing the ball once more.

"Takemi and Kousaki, can you please come stand either side of me?"

Two smaller boys emerged from the crowd. One was the bubblegum-haired boy who'd caused a fuss with Yoko and Momoiro, clearly a special case by how Mononoke had described his presence in 1-B. The other was Teru, the boy who'd arrived first and sat next to Isa. Atsuko fiddled with the zip of her jacket. Teru definitely seemed like a nicer person to be around, but she wasn't going to judge Kira just yet. She'd be a hypocrite if she did.

Teru stood at Mononoke's left while Kira stood at his right, and the teacher said to the class, "These are our team captains. I will not be divulging any particular information regarding their entrance exams, but team captains has been determined today by the highest _and_ lowest scoring applicants in all exam sites. Exam score, however, is not an indicator of performance at Zenshi. I want to reiterate—" Mononoke said this as he looked pointedly at Teru and Kira. "—that the _only_ weight the scores have is determining who leads each team fairly and without bias from myself. Is that understood?"

Atsuko could see what each boy thought they'd gotten. Teru had gotten considerably paler, the green tint to his skin all but faded as he stared at his shoes silently. Kira, on the other hand, smirked to himself and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was the only one to respond, giving Mononoke a lazy, "Yes, sensei."

"Now." Mononoke turned on his heel and began walking to the nearest wall of the gym. Each wall had what looked to be a switchboard mounted every few feet along it, and when Mononoke opened the first one he reached he flipped a row of switches. From behind Teru and Kira, holes in the floor began to open up and more red rubber balls emerged from them. Floorboards even began to flip over, revealing stark white boundary lines and clear sections each team was set to stand on. "I'm thinking of a number between zero and ten. Guess what it is, boys."

Teru looked warily at Kira. The smaller boy was watching him with narrowed eyes, a clear threat for him to guess first.

"Four," Teru mumbled.

Immediately, Kira said, "Five."

Mononoke hummed as he walked back to the boys. "Seven," he told them. Teru deflated even more as Kira planted his hands on his hips. "Takemi, you take first pick. Who do you want on your team?"

Again, wasting no time, Kira pointed at Azumi and announced, "I want Masamune."

The tallest, if not burliest, member of their class. Jun, the fox boy who was hovering near Azumi, clicked his tongue and mumbled a good luck to her. Azumi sucked in a deep breath and fixed her jacket, and without a word she approached Kira's side.

Mononoke pointed to the far end of the dodgeball court. That was clearly going to be Kira's side. "Masamune, take your place on Takemi's side."

Once Azumi was at the far line, Mononoke looked expectantly to Teru.

"R—Ryo-san," Teru blurted out. Atsuko immediately looked to the pink-haired boy in question. The two obviously knew each other, obviously had a friendship budding thanks to their exam. The fact that Ryo nodded proudly and patted Teru's shoulder on his way past him confirmed as such. Once Ryo was in place on Teru's side of the court, Kira kept the pace going strong.

"Mori," he called. Emiko, the dragon girl, rubbed the back of her neck and joined Azumi.

Teru scanned the crowd and locked gazes with Atsuko. Her heart leapt into her throat. Was he going to…?

"Himura-san?" Teru said uncertainly. Atsuko nodded fervently. She scurried past him and took her place next to Ryo. Okay, this was a good start. She'd never played dodgeball before, but being picked early was good, right?

"Igarashi."

"Suru-san."

"Yurenagi."

"Hagane-san."

"Jiai."

"Nekota-san."

"Yagami."

"Koizumi-san."

"Bara."

"Atashi-san."

"Kyubi."

"Yaiya-san."

They stood in silence, all lined up on their sides of the room. In her mind, Atsuko began cataloguing the teams and making notes of what she knew so far.

Team Teru: Herself, Teru, Ryo, Fuhai, Tetsuya, Miyuki, Mirato, Lyoko and Soku. From what she knew, Mirato could see branches of the future—he'd have to be kept safe in case the other team has a trump card or something. Miyuki had a tail and ears, so maybe she had some kind of transformation Quirk? Or maybe she had catlike abilities? That'd be handy for the dodging aspect of dodgeball. Lyoko had put up a fuss when Tetsuya had teased him earlier, too. An augmentation Quirk?

Team Kira: Kira, Azumi, Emiko, Yoko, Isa, Mami, Touka, Momoiro, and Jun. Jun and Emiko had features like Miyuki, probably abilities similar to her own as well, so they outnumbered Team Teru on that front. Azumi was big… She'd be an easy target, but who knew how agile she was despite her size? And Kira… There was no way Kira was going to be an ordinary opponent, if members of his own team objected to him being at Zenshi. Atsuko hadn't been in the same testing group as Isa and Mami, but the fact that they were recommendations was enough to have her wary.

Beside her, their voices in hushed whispers, she heard Mirato say, "Ryo-kun. My favourite ice cream flavour is strawberry."

Atsuko looked over with wide eyes. She was just in time to see Ryo break out into a knowing smile, hurriedly muttering under his breath, before the boys shook hands. The bright glow was the last of their free time spent once Mononoke took his place at the edge of the court.

"Zenshi passes and fails its students in teams," he announced, pulling a whistle from his track pants pocket. "So, true to the Zenshi way, the losing team from today's match will face repercussions."

Ryo stumbled, a hand flying to his stomach immediately. Mirato steadied him and whispered, "Ryo-kun, take it easy."

"I'm gonna hork," Ryo whispered back. "Holy shit."

"Is everyone ready?" Mononoke went on. Atsuko looked frantically from Ryo to Mononoke. He wasn't really going to throw up, was he? She kept glancing back and forth, concerned for her classmate's health, but soon paused entirely when she saw the skin of his forehead part.

He was growing a third eye. A third goddamn eye. Mirato's Quirk was a mutation, then?

"Wait!"

Mononoke held the whistle to his lips as he glanced at Team Kira. Touka had her hand in the air, her jacket already tied around her waist in order to expose her softly glowing skin. Mami seemed to be in the process of doing the same.

"Yes, Yagami?"

"What rules are we following? Like, if we catch a throw does the other team lose a player, or do we just bring one back in? And can we use our Quirks?"

Mononoke smiled, almost proud. "A good question, Yagami. Say you throw a ball and it hits… Hagane. Unless it hit him in the face, he will be considered 'out'. Now, if Bara throws a ball and Koizumi catches it, not only is Bara considered 'out', but Hagane comes back 'in'. Does that make sense to you all?"

A few heads nodded. "As for Quirks," Mononoke went on, "just try not to put each other in the hospital."

As though summarising what Mononoke had said, Kira hurriedly replied, "Don't hit the face, if we catch a ball the other team loses one and we regain one. Can we start?"

Well, it seemed like that was all it took. Mononoke nodded once and brought the whistle to his lips. With a deep breath, he blew into the whistle and signalled the game to start.

* * *

_**Shizue Manaka - Hero Name: Kronos - Quirk: Timestopper**_**  
**_Manaka can slow time to a snail's pace for moments at a time for himself, and to the outside world he is often mistaken for having a speed-based Quirk due to how fast he moves in action. His Quirk is hereditary, skipping generations on occasion, and is rather detrimental to his health_—_during his time in training, he suffered frequent aneurysms from overuse and recklessness. Manaka, along with his sister Noriko and their classmate Hanashi, were once students of a hero academy called Isatake; following a villain attack in its first year of opening, the school was shut down and its students sent to nearby academies to continue their studies. The trio are known to the public as the Outliers of UA._

_**Shizue Noriko - Hero Name: Poltergirl - Quick: Ghost  
**__Noriko's Quirk allows her to levitate and become intangible at will, provided she hold her breath for a long enough period of time. Her Quirk is an even split between her mother's intangibility and her father's levitation, and as such Noriko can use the abilities individually if she needs to. She can apply the effects of her Quirk to others and can even negate the effects of other Quirks if she's quick enough. Noriko, along with her brother and her classmate Hanashi, was once a student of a hero academy called Isatake; following a villain attack in its first year of opening, the school was shut down and its students sent to nearby academies to continue their studies. Since her first year at UA, Noriko has been in a relationship with the number two hero, Shouto Todoroki_.

* * *

When Mononoke blew the whistle, both teams jumped into action. From Team Kira, the cloud belonging to Yoko shot out and practically smothered one of the balls, pulling it back for Yoko to wield; from Team Teru, Soku's wires landed on a few balls and wrapped around them snuggly, only to be pulled back by the effect of Tetsuya's Quirk.

Teru caught one of the balls the boys had snagged, and he managed to watch the last of the balls fly to Team Kira's side of the court, all towards Mami like she was some kind of magnet for them. She was glowing now, more than usual, and Teru found himself slowing to a halt to just… _Stare_. She was so gorgeous. He had to get closer, to see her better, to—

Mirato's hand clamped around Teru's eyes, and he yanked the boy back just as a rubber ball bounced past him. Crap, he'd almost been eliminated already?

"Avoid looking directly at Jiai-san," Ryo announced. He had one hand cupped over his face, blocking Mami from his peripheral. His eyes glowed for a fraction of a second, and with them firmly clenched shut he lowered his hand and deflected an oncoming ball with the one in his other hand.

Teru steadied himself and let out a breath. Mirato had pulled him to the back of their group, giving him just a few more seconds to regain his bearings. "Thanks, Koizumi-san."

Mirato smiled and nodded. It didn't take him long to flutter to someone else's side, giving them a heads up on how to use their Quirk to get someone out.

Already his team was hard at work combining their Quirks. A small crowd with balls huddled around Tetsuya and Soku as the boys wrapped their own dodgeballs in wires, and soon enough they were handed off to the nearest person ready to strike. Teru was in awe. With so little prep time beforehand, everyone was already working together to secure a win.

This was the attitude Zenshi applicants had, he realised.

It was an attitude he lacked at the moment, or could improve on at least—as he was distracted by how well everyone worked together, making the best use of Tetsuya and Soku's Quirks as they threw balls, Teru found himself falling over backwards as a ball from the opposing team collided hard with his stomach. Teru actually went skidding along the floor for a few feet, landing in front of a very stunned Miyuki as she caught the ball that bounced off of him.

Mononoke blew the whistle sharply. "Kousaki: Out!" he called. "Masamune: Out!"

Kira was quick to protest. "The ball she threw hit the other team!"

"Did I not mention? If a ball rebounds and is caught before it touches the ground, it counts as an out. Masamune, to the sidelines."

Teru cradled his stomach as he limped to the sideline. Azumi didn't stand too far from him, the fronts of their lines starting on either side of Mononoke. It was a solid hit to his torso, definitely enough to make his chest hurt more than it should have by now; God, he hoped he didn't have to spend the rest of the day with his binder off. Making sure he didn't do any permanent damage was good an all, but the Zenshi uniform was far from baggy enough to make him comfortable.

Azumi leaned behind Mononoke, and she looked Teru up and down. "Are you… alright?" she asked tentatively.

Teru nodded, giving her a weak thumbs-up. "I'm fine. I'm just… wearing something that hurts when too much pressure is put on it."

That got a quick response from Mononoke. "Kousaki, you can go to the nurse's office if you need to. I'm sure your team won't mind."

He shook his head. "It's fine, sensei. By the time I'm called back in it'll pass."

"If you're sure— Eh?" Mononoke balked at the court, and Teru quickly turned his gaze back towards the game. Had something happened. "Where'd Yurenagi go?"

As he said that, Teru watched Mami dull her glow for just a moment and lob a ball at his team. The ball moved like a homing missile, swerving dangerously to the right and landing on an otherwise clueless Fuhai's back. From there, it sailed through the air only to suddenly beeline for Atsuko. Thankfully, Atsuko had one of the balls wrapped in wire—it was yanked from her hands by Tetsuya and deflected the renegade dodgeball with considerable force.

The dodgeball bounced back to Mami's side. She picked it up and gave it a small smile, and it was then that Teru saw it: A ghostly form removing itself from the shape of the ball, slowly regaining human form and slumping over in exhaustion. Mami dulled her glow completely and patted the human—Isa, Teru realised when he saw her strained expression—as she fed her praises.

Mononoke blew the whistle. "Suru: Out!"

"Whoa…" Teru stared at Isa with wide eyes. So her ghostly appearance belied her Quirk? He wondered what else she could do. Heck, could she even possess people? He probably wouldn't find out today—crossing the bounds to do that would probably result in Isa being eliminated.

Fuhai rubbed her back with a whine as she stood beside Teru. "That came out of nowhere. Good thing Hagane-san was quick enough to keep Himura-san in."

"Takemi-san's team really aren't pulling their punches," Teru agreed with a nervous laugh.

As though to prove his point, a ball whizzed through the air and hit Mirato on the shoulder. Mononoke blew his whistle, called, "Koizumi: Out!" and waited patiently for Mirato to wander to Fuhai's side.

Mirato let out a deflated sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Teru-kun… I got a bit lost in the maze for a second there."

The maze… So, like, the possible futures? If Mirato was looking into as many possibilities to this game as he could, Teru couldn't fault him at all. He shrugged at the boy, a nonchalant expression on his face, and just watched as Mirato poked at the mark left on his arm from Ryo's Quirk.

Still, this wasn't a good start. Three of them knocked out of the game in a row? And only Azumi removed due to a technicality? Team Teru certainly hadn't taken off running in this competition.

Atsuko was recovering quickly from the attempt at eliminating her. She picked up another wire-wrapped ball and called out to Tetsuya, and with her eyes squeezed shut she chucked the ball across the court. Teru could see Tetsuya's gaze follow the ball, and with a wave of his arm the ball careened to the left and landed almost inconspicuously on Momoiro's foot. The boy in question hadn't even noticed it hit, not until Mononoke called, "Bara: Out!"

Fuhai and Mirato broke out into cheers. Teru weakly joined, a little embarrassed by the show of energy, but it was enough to make Atsuko break out into a big smile. She'd been jittery even before Teru called her to his team; it was nice seeing her look a little more confident, he thought with a small grin.

From behind Atsuko, Ryo lobbed a ball at the other team. It was heading for Kira, clearly meant for him to begin with, but the ball never made contact with him. One moment he was standing still, ball in his hands and expression calm, and the next the ball was ricocheting off of a force around him. Ryo blinked, shocked, as the ball rebounded off of Kira and landed in Jun's hands.

"Torihikiko: Out! Masamune: In!"

Momoiro was quick to furrow his brows as his teammate returned to the field. Just under his breath, Teru heard him mutter, "That wasn't the Quirk he had in the exam."

By the time Ryo was by Mirato's side, the two boys were having an in-depth discussion about what had just happened. Teru's ears burned as he listened in, half-focused on the game now that the joy of seeing Atsuko let loose had faded.

"I was hoping it wasn't the force field," Ryo grumbled. "I can see how you get lost now."

"I was watching, too," Mirato told him. "It was very rare that he had the same Quirk more than a handful of times, actually."

Fuhai gawked at the boys. "The same Quirk?" she said. Mirato nodded fervently.

"Takemi's Quirk, I think he can mimic other Quirks? Or maybe he gets a random Quirk? Whatever it is, Ryo-kun and I saw a lot of different types he could've used." He turned to Ryo suddenly, pointing to him with wide eyes. "You were hoping for the growth-altering Quirk, right?"

Ryo's face lit up. "I was! Even if he shrank, he was most likely to be eliminated by a stray ball with that one!"

"Igarashi: Out!"

"You did that on purpose," Teru heard Yoko growl. When he looked back to the court, he could see Yoko rubbing a red spot on her hand and a dodgeball rolling away from her. Kira was just a few feet away, another force field in place. This one must have hit Yoko when it ricocheted instead of being caught.

"Don't flatter yourself," Kira growled back. He reared his arm back and threw the ball as hard as he could. It missed Soku narrowly, bouncing off the floor, and was deftly picked up by Miyuki as she jogged past.

Yoko was by Mononoke's side and sighing with furrowed brows. Her cloud hovered over her hand, and Teru could feel the lightest of breezes come from the tiny thing.

"Hey, sensei," Yoko said, "can I switch teams?"

"Not without a good reason."

"What if I said I'm part-Italian?"

Mononoke actually spat the whistle out of his mouth and snorted. His attention was momentarily off of the game as he shook his head and covered his face with his hands.

"Igarashi… No."

Yoko clicked her tongue and glowered at the floor.

Man, Kira's teammates really didn't like him. Teru did his best to avoid eye contact with Yoko and Momoiro whenever he glanced at them. Stirring that particular pot, even if unintentionally, was not something he wanted to risk. Instead of giving them too much attention, he kept his thoughts to the game and how well his team would fare against someone like Kira.

Kira lobbed another ball at Team Teru, swerving just in time to dodge one that was sailing towards him at that same moment. The throw was weaker than Teru expected, the ball moving too slow to catch anyone off guard. Kira seemed to know this too, his eyes going wide and his face slowly becoming red—from stress? Embarrassment? Whatever it was, Kira was dumbfounded by how much impact he'd lost with his throw.

From the back of Team Teru, two large clumps of wires shaped in half-spheres caught the ball mid-air. The wires withdrew to their owner, a very proud Soku, as Kira stared in horror at the result of his throw.

"Takemi: Out!" Mononoke called. "Kousaki: In!"

Never had four words sounded more heavenly to Teru before. He adjusted his binder, testing to see if he was still tender, and sucked in a deep breath. From the back of Team Teru, Soku cheered, "C'mon, captain!"

Amethyst encased his skin up to his elbows, and then his torso for extra measure, as he sprinted back onto the court.

* * *

Looking over the students' files was turning into a nightmare. Skathi heaved a sigh as she looked over each year level, each Quirk and family situation. There were a lot of things to consider as she leafed through them all, comparing notes with the public information of all the students who'd fallen victim to this killer.

This was a lot. It was certainly more than she bargained for when she requested the time alone to study today. Some investigations she could handle, like looking into robberies or hunting down villains, but homicides were… something else entirely. She had a new appreciation for the police who dealt with this as part of their job descriptions. Having to look at these massacred children day in and day out just to find some clue about the killer's motive, or even his identity, was a whole other level from fighting against someone else's Quirk on the streets.

Skathi leaned back in her chair and stared at the photos of Hako Shimeru's body, still in the alleyway Chou Hirari had pointed authorities to before passing out from blood loss. His injuries were so normal, so unaffiliated with Quirk use. There was even evidence of hands being used to strangle him at one point, the rings around his pale throat reminding Skathi of the dark chokers she would wear during her teenage goth phase. He'd been cleaned meticulously before being discovered—he'd clearly died there, but the killer had left Hirari behind in favour of removing all traces of DNA from Shimeru's body. Not even dirt stuck under his fingernails, no traces of hairs or the killer's own blood on his clothes.

Shimeru had never stood a chance.

Skathi dropped the photo onto her desk with the others. With Ishisaki Natsuki and Shokudou Arisu's photos, victims of the same attack. According to the information provided by Shiketsu and Seiai, Natsuki's Quirk involved linking minds for covert communication while Arisu's Quirk allowed her to wander freely, so long as she remained asleep and safe in one spot.

There's been no struggle with Arisu, which meant she'd probably been wandering, having an out-of-body experience and searching for help, or even the killer's face, when she'd died. She got lucky, all things considered. But there was one thing Skathi was certain of: Natsuki had been the leader of their escape, and had laid out the groundwork for Shimeru to help Hirari escape. Him being the first victim only proved this more and more as Skathi looked into the details.

She looked at Shimeru's student file. Notes from Kronos confirmed that Shimeru had the right attitude for 1-A, his teamwork impeccable and his personality easy to get along with. Because of his Quirk, he could partner with almost anyone in his class. His physical capabilities were fairly average, too.

"Was that what made you stand out?" Skathi muttered. She looked back to Natsuki and Arisu—students whose Quirks allowed them to seek out others and played a more supportive role than offensive. But then her gaze shifted to Hirari. "No… Chou doesn't fit the mould. So what did you all have in common?"

The phone on her desk let out a shrill ring. Skathi's tired eyes dragged over in its direction, and she could only sigh as she reached for the phone. All of the staff were busy with first day preparations, save for one—and she was waiting for his report today.

"Hero Skathi," she greeted flatly. Materia Medica cleared his throat at the response, choked up already. She couldn't blame him. Looking after Hirari and making sure she talked to police was probably the hardest part of all this.

"_I, um… Koori-san, I've got good and bad news._"

Christ. "Start with the good. I need some before I go back to the files."

Materia Medica hummed once, agreeing. He sucked in a deep breath and reported, "_Chou is responding well physically to my treatment. The cells are regenerating and most of her injuries are starting to fade. Her wings aren't exactly repairing themselves, though, so I'm going to have to administer a direct transfusion just in case. But overall she's improving._"

Good. Hirari had been pretty banged up when she'd been found, and the pain she was in had her screaming the moment she'd come to in hospital. No amount of painkillers had been enough to dull the ache in her shoulders, according to her doctor.

"How is she mentally, Chihara-san?" Skathi went on. Materia Medica hesitated for a second.

"_That's the bad news. Whatever happened to her, it's traumatised her. Whenever she starts to get tired she starts panicking and…_"

Skathi raised her brow. "And…?"

"_Crying out for, ah… Hako. She puts up a hell of a fight whenever nurses try to sedate her, too. She really, really doesn't want to sleep, Koori-san. I think she keeps going back to her escape when she does._"

Skathi pulled the phone from her ear and let out a long, exhausted breath. She cradled her head in one hand and gripped the phone tightly with the other. How sick was this guy, if the one survivor of his attacks was this badly traumatised?

The faintest sounds of Materia Medica's voice was coming through the phone's speaker. He was calling to her, trying to get her attention again. Skathi couldn't help looking at Shimeru again as she said, "I'm here. What else is there?"

"_It's not my place to say, since I was asked to keep it a secret from the public, but you're not exactly the press. Chou's been visited every day since entrance exams started by the number one hero_—_she's his top student, apparently._"

"Deku?" Skathi furrowed her brows. She reached down for one of her desk drawers and yanked it open, pulling a small notepad from it and immediately jotting down a note for herself: _Talk to Shizue siblings_. If anyone would know why Deku would take a personal interest in a UA student being kidnapped, it was Zenshi's very own UA alumni among their staff. Poltergirl and Kronos had been part of 1-A by association, and from what she knew the whole class had been close. "I can see why he wants this private. It's odd to see him take such an interest in just one student. A protégé?"

"_Couldn't say. But even Deku visiting her isn't helping. She clams up until it's light's out, and you know the rest_."

Yeah, she'd have to follow up with the Shizue siblings. And Poltergirl was dating another UA alumnus, so maybe Skathi could arrange a meeting with Deku through him.

"This helps a lot, Chihara-san. Maybe we can help Chou a bit quicker."

"_Yes… But the more we focus on Chou, the more we neglect our students._" Materia Medica let out a huff of breath, clearly impatient with himself. He always put more pressure on himself whenever he ran into a block. "_I've no doubt Deku will get through to her, but the more she refuses to sleep…_"

And then he let out a gasp.

"Chihara-san?"

"_Koori-san, I have to go for a bit_—_I think I figured out how to help Chou as well as get some answers from her. I just gotta see if I still have her number…_" What the…? Whose number? "_I'll call back as soon as possible. Good luck with the students!_"

Skathi stared at the phone in disbelief once Materia Medica hung up. Who the hell was he talking about? Was he seriously leaving her in the dark _now_ of all times?

She set the phone back on the receiver and sighed.

"Guess I just have to trust his plan," she grumbled.

* * *

**Practical Classes Arc: CONTINUE**

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**So! Thoughts and predictions are appreciated, and we'll be back soon with the next chapter!**


	9. 08: Team Teru vs Team Kira

**Just a head's up, there's a poll on my profile regarding who would best be suited for 1-B's class president! Y'all are allowed to vote for up to three students, and the result will be posted in the chapter regarding such a vote! Otherwise, enjoy the chapter :D**

* * *

**Arc Theme: Ambivalent - Eve**

* * *

**08 - Team Teru vs Team Kira**

Goodness, his new 1-B was lively.

Mononoke watched the two teams come into their own, slowly finding rhythm with the Quirks left on the court and at their disposal. He'd been worried at first, especially with high tensions on Kira's team, but now he could see there was no need. His recommendation students—_three of them_, what _luck_ he had!—were setting quite the example for everyone to follow. Mami and Isa displayed how well their Quirks worked together, Isa's exhaustion apparent with each time she possessed a dodgeball or became intangible when one hurtled towards her, while Mami's bright shine attracted even the attention of Mononoke whenever she put it on display. If Isa was too tired to return the ball, and herself, on her own, then Mami would bring her back and keep everyone's attention on her until Isa recovered.

And on Teru's team, the withdrawn and skittish Atsuko slowly came out of her shell. She was refraining from using her Quirk, that was obvious to even Mononoke, but she was making up for it by encouraging those around her and clearly calling out to someone she intended to work together with. Any team she'd be part of in the future would never need to use words after enough time working together; they'd be on the same level thanks to Atsuko's initial communication efforts, and it was exactly the kind of outcome Mononoke could hope for from Zenshi students.

There was much room for improvement, but the fact that the starting point was well above his expectations was a silver lining.

Mononoke had read the files on his students yesterday, familiarised himself with their family situations and their Quirks. He had to, in order to be the best homeroom teacher for them as possible. All the walks of life they came from, all the capabilities they could have once they honed their abilities—he worked himself to the bone to keep it all in mind, to formulate plans for how to teach them all individually. He may not be teaching them in their core classes, but every minute he spent with them in 1-B was not to be wasted.

Especially, he thought with a glance at Kira, with the mishaps that have occurred already.

Yoko had been right to question why Kira was let into Zenshi, but unless Kira himself explained his circumstances then she would have to keep her objections to herself. The entrance exam footage had been brutal, an entire testing area destroyed and in dire need of repairs and regrowth. But Zenshi was a desperate school, and the fact that someone like Kira had sought out a _heroics_ course—rather than remain a delinquent wrecking havoc around him—had factored greatly into his acceptance. He had to relearn how to conduct himself, the staff had agreed, and despite getting the golden ticket he still needed to be punished.

It was, quite frankly, not the kind of punishment Mononoke would've picked. But, knowing what he did now and even digging into the Takemi family, at least any and all bad influences for Kira would be out of the way during his time at Zenshi.

On the court, a sudden turn had been taken that Mononoke kicked himself for not noticing sooner. No one had been removed by technicality, all the balls hitting the ground and being scooped up by team members, but not once did Team Teru throw the balls back at Team Kira. Mononoke scanned the court, counting just three dodgeballs left on Team Kira's side. The remainder, a good dozen of them, were towards the back of Team Teru's side.

He saw Soku right at the very back, breaking out into a sweat and struggling to stay on his feet. His hands shook, but he still continued to use his Quirk as Miyuki delivered the dodgeballs to him.

Oh. Oh this was interesting.

Mononoke lifted the whistle to his lips and got ready to give it a blow. He would have to keep a good eye on Team Kira now. At his side, Mirato and Ryo let out excited sounds that almost drowned out the chaos of the court.

Azumi, back on the court and sticking with Jun, readied a ball to throw. Despite the obvious danger that was coming their way, and even Yoko and Kira screaming at her not to throw the ball, she put all her strength into her strike. The ball whizzed past Teru, who dove in an attempt at catching it, and landed right at the back of the court—on Soku's shoulder.

Mononoke blew the whistle. "Yaiya: Out!"

Soku shook his hands and tucked them into his pockets. He chewed his lip, clearly in pain, but it definitely wasn't from the ball that just hit him. Overuse of his Quirk, according to his file, would often result in pain at such a level that Soku struggled to handle. Mononoke was more amazed at how long it had taken to set in, given how much he and Tetsuya had relied on each other's Quirks to keep the balls under their control. And the catch he'd made earlier to bring Teru back in hadn't exactly been something small.

Whatever Soku had been making all the way back there, it didn't require any further tinkering. Almost as soon as Soku was at the sidelines and receiving praise from the boys and Fuhai, Tetsuya and Lyoko were scrambling after it while Teru, Atsuko and Miyuki kept a close eye on the remaining two balls on Team Kira's side.

It was Touka and Emiko who had the last balls. They looked to each other, wary of the plan at the back of Team Teru, and even Mononoke could see the small plan forming in the back of their minds.

"I can't keep possessing the balls," Isa reported to Mami. Mami nodded, and tightened the knot of her jacket around her waist.

"Isa-chan, can you make other people intangible? Like Poltergirl?"

"I've never tried. I have something else I can do, though."

Mami smiled brightly. "Touka-chan! Emiko-chan! Feel free to throw the balls!"

"Eh?" Jun balked at her. "But then we won't have any left!"

Touka was pretty on board with the plan. Even Emiko, though looking reluctant, nodded in agreement. "I think I know what Jiai-san has in mind," Touka said in Jun's direction.

Now _this_ was the kind of teamwork Mononoke was surprised to see on day one. He learned forward, eyes wide and trained on both teams, as Emiko and Touka ran to opposite sides of the court. From the far left, where Azumi and Jun stood, Touka threw the ball almost casually. It bounced and bounced, stopping just shy of a confused Atsuko's feet. To the far right, where Mami and Isa whispered their plans to each other, Emiko threw the ball up in the air like she would a volleyball and quickly spun; her tail launched the ball across the court like a baseball off a tee, and it crashed into Teru. Much like with Azumi's throw at the start of the game, it pushed the boy back onto the ground and made him skid along a few feet.

Now with no balls on Team Kira's side, Team Teru could take their time. Moreso, Mononoke thought as he saw Teru stumble back to his feet with the ball tucked tightly under his arm, pressed against his stomach, they had less targets to worry about.

"Mori: Out! Suru: In!"

"Nuts," Emiko said. She walked off the court and to the sidelines, calling out a good luck to her remaining teammates on her way. Fuhai bounced back onto the court, and she herself twirled on her heel to give a gleeful wave to Emiko.

Emiko waved back, and immediately Kira began interrogating her. "You didn't do that just to bring your friend back in, did you?"

"Suru-san being the next one to come back in was coincidence," Emiko said dryly. She gave him a stare that told him to drop the topic before he went too far. "I know you're competitive, but being a sore loser won't help your case. We _all_ get punished if we lose this, remember?"

Kira's expression was blank. He didn't respond, at least, and just turned his gaze back to the game to see what the outcome would be.

Finally Mononoke could see the item Soku had spent his time making. Lyoko and Tetsuya stood, holding one end each as balls were loaded into it; the wiring was loose and hastily put together, but it was for all intents and purposes a suitable net.

"You good?" Tetsuya asked Lyoko. The other boy nodded, a confident look on his face.

"All the running around built up enough for this," he reported. Tetsuya grinned back. Right, Mononoke thought; they'd worked together during their entrance exam. "Just give me a signal. Y'hear, captain?"

Teru perked up at the call. He was more surprised and unprepared than anything, and his face quickly went red as he looked between both teams. Team Kira was on the defensive, everyone positioning themselves in sparse areas to minimise hits. With a final glance at Mami, Teru sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

Tetsuya handed his end of the net to Lyoko. As soon as he backed away, everyone else in Team Teru fled for the sidelines. More than a dozen balls were swung around and around in the net, Lyoko gaining speed with each round he made. He didn't hint as to when he would set them loose.

"Alley—" His hands unclenched, the entire net falling apart without his strength holding it together. The balls sailed through the air, high above Team Kira's heads. "—oop!"

It seemed to happen in an instant. Touka rushed forward, the glow in her skin flickering for a fraction of a second. If not for the fact that Soku muttered, "Oh crap," and pulled his jersey over his face, Mononoke would not have known what she was planning. He squeezed his eyes shut, shielding his face for the quick second it took for Touka to turn herself into a living flashbang in the middle of the court. Team Teru cowered away, all of them holding their faces in pain and stumbling about in a panic.

As soon as Touka stepped back into the team, the recommendations took action. Isa began to fade, much like she had when she'd possessed the ball earlier—but now she was taking a different approach, fractions of herself branching out and slowly taking solid shapes. Where there was once only one Isa, standing beside Mami and trying to catch her breath, there were now five—all lined up in front of Mami like some kind of wall, ready to catch and block any balls that landed.

It was Mami's turn to glow, now, and she could not have cut it any closer. A ball was mere inches away from landing on Azumi, out of sight even as Jun tried to keep an eye open coming her way. But once Mami began to glow, enrapturing the whole class with her presence, the balls came to a sudden halt. For all of a second they hovered in the air, almost as though hesitating to continue their previous descent; when that second passed, they suddenly began to converge on Mami's position.

Mami dropped her glow and bolted backwards, leaving the Isa decoys to fend for themselves. Two balls collided with a decoy—she vanished instantly, not strong enough to withstand even a single hit. One ball was caught by a decoy, only for the very same one to be destroyed by three more balls. The real Isa joined Mami as they fled for the rest of their team, leaving Mononoke to watch intently for how many more clones remained.

Another ball caught—and then poof, no more of that decoy remained. Two left, he counted, and then he would announce the results of the massive throw. Another ball caught, this one dodging the remaining balls and dropping back to one side. The last decoy, utterly alone in her stand, took the brunt of any and all remaining balls flying to her spot.

Mononoke blew the whistle as soon as it vanished. "Atashi: Out! Bara, Igarashi and Takemi: In!"

"Just Atashi?" Jun wheezed. Mononoke nodded.

"Atashi was the one to launch the balls from the net. Therefore, only Atashi is credited to the throw. Hagane stays."

Only Emiko remained by his side from Team Kira, and Team Teru's losses only grew. Lyoko jogged on the spot when he was beside Soku, and he gave the boy a thumbs up for his net plan.

"Shame we didn't get anyone out," he said, "but you gotta admit, that was amazing!"

"It kinda was," Soku agreed. His cheerful expression took a much more grim turn. "But… We gave the other team all the balls with it."

That they did. Team Kira assembled now, three more members strong and, much like Team Teru had, clearly taking their time with how they would use their influx of dodgeballs. Despite their dislike of Kira, even Yoko and Momoiro came towards the back of the court when they were signalled to group up.

Mononoke crossed his arms in front of his chest. They wouldn't be taking breaks like this in the future to formulate plans, but at least they were formulating to begin with. Kira had made the right choice in putting Momoiro and Yoko on his team—he clearly knew what their Quirks could do, especially after copying Yoko's in the exam, and now he had a clear idea of what _most_ of Team Teru was capable of.

He was about to ready his whistle, waiting patiently for Team Kira to make their move, when the next member of Team Teru waiting to go back in tugged at his sleeve.

Mirato stared up at him with a soft glow to his white eyes. Mononoke raised his brows. Was something bad about to happen? Christ, was he going to have to step in? Usually it was 1-A that had troubles that required teacher intervention, not 1-B!

"Sensei," Mirato said in a daze, "I think… I think 1-A is coming to watch the match…?"

Mononoke bristled. He quickly brought the whistle to his lips and let out a sharp toot.

"Pause for a moment!" All eyes landed on him. Team Kira looked particularly alarmed, though Team Teru were still stressed and watching their opponents like hawks. "Any attempts to eliminate someone from the other team until I say you can do so will result in an automatic loss."

Kira actually dropped the ball he was holding with a horrified gasp.

Mononoke turned on his heel and stalked back to the entrance to the gym. Honestly, must Kronos make this so difficult for him? They were supposed to be outside for their exercise, doing the scavenger hunt Skathi outlined this year. Why in the world were they coming here?

He sucked in a deep, tired breath, and opened the gym doors. From the bright world outside, just a few yards from where he stood, he could see the offending teacher approach with his lively class.

Kronos, dense as ever, waved excitedly to Mononoke. "Yo, Mamonaka-san! You've got good timing!"

He cast a final glance over his shoulder at his students. They all watched him with wide eyes, surprised as he was to see 1-A approaching, but not a single one of them made a move to do something irresponsible. Mononoke looked back to Kronos and began walking out to meet him halfway.

"I almost didn't recognise you out of costume—"

Mononoke cut him off quickly. "Kronos, you're supposed to be overseeing your class's scavenger hunt."

"And I did." Kronos pointed over his shoulder at one girl—Mononoke swore he recognised her from one of the entrance exam videos, having worked with his own students. "Keima and her team won. I can see how Odoriba was caught so fast!"

"Why aren't you taking them to the dorms?" Keima peeked around Kronos, peering into the gym, and suddenly began to beam. She jumped on the heels of her feet and pointed inside, whispering excitedly to a boy with piercings and long, dark hair tied up in a loose bun. "Let them settle in."

"Well…"

Mononoke brought his hands up to his face and groaned. "Kronos. Tell me you didn't come here to watch instead of showing your students their dorms."

"Of course I didn't."

Oh, thank God.

Kronos gestured to his class. "_We_ came here to watch instead of going straight to the dorms."

"Manaka-san, I swear to—"

Lyoko's voice rang out from the gym doors. "Sensei! Is everything okay out there?"

Was everything— Mononoke let out a long, drawn out sigh and squeezed the bridge of his nose. This was fine. This was _fine_. _This_ was fine. It was one exercise on the first day, it wouldn't hurt the first-year schedule in the slightest.

"Fine," he said curtly. "Fine. But you're not allowed to participate."

As he turned back around to walk back to the gym, he yelled to Lyoko, "Atashi, flick the switch closest to the court labelled 'seats'!"

* * *

_**Chihara Takeshi - Hero Name: Materia Medica - Quirk: Regeneration  
**__Takeshi's Quirk gives his blood regenerative properties. Even when removed from his body and stored for days, his blood can be used as a universal donation and can, in extreme cases, regenerate lost body parts and erase minor scarring - provided enough blood is given to the patient. Takeshi's Quirk is most effective when he administers direct transfusions, and as such he keeps a kit handy for any on the fly. This is how he got the moniker "The Donor Hero"._

_**Mamonaka Onisuke - Hero Name: Mononoke - Quirk: Living Nightmare  
**__When Onisuke looks at someone and activates his Quirk, his target is assaulted by auditory and visual hallucinations that often serve to paralyze them with fear and make for easy capture. His Quirk is ill-suited for solo work, but when put in a team he can very easily create distractions and dissonance between villain groups. Combined with his appearance as a wandering ghost to the public, his Quirk is quite fearsome indeed._

* * *

"No way…"

"Man, now the pressure's really on."

"She's gonna say it…" Teru glared past Miyuki at the seats, his gaze zeroing in on one girl in particular. "I'm gonna scream if she says it…"

Miyuki followed his gaze and found the chestnut-haired girl quickly. It wasn't hard to spot her, she thought; not when she jumped up to her feet barely a few seconds after she'd sat down. Her finger pointed wildly at Team Kira, a large grin on her face.

"Oni-chan!" she cheered. "Kitsune-kun!"

She was dumbfounded by the exclamation. So was Teru, apparently. But no one was more surprised than the oni in question. Azumi blushed and glared up at the girl, and soon enough her glare flew to Jun as he giggled and waved back. It was a weak wave, the trio clearly having bonded in some form during the entrance exam, but Miyuki wasn't about to pry.

"My name's not Oni-chan," Azumi grumbled.

She was ignored. The girl only went on with her cheers, but soon they turned into an apology directed at Jun and Azumi.

"Sorry guys! I have to cheer on my hero, Terurin!" And when the girl looked to Teru with a big smile on her face, Miyuki could hear the defeated sigh slip from the boy.

Teru met her gaze almost immediately. He was pulling his jersey up above his head and trying to hide his face from 1-A entirely. He had a thousand yard stare as he asked Miyuki, "Do you think Masamune-san will be merciful and knock me out with the next throw?"

"That's not a captainly attitude," Miyuki drawled. Teru scrunched up his face. Whatever he was going to say was quickly drowned out by Jun sprinting to the middle of the court.

"_You're Terurin!?_" he screeched.

"I'm Teru!" He shook his head and began zipping up his jersey, face half-hidden by the zipper. "_Teru_!"

The sharp whistle Mononoke let out startled even Miyuki. Her hair practically fluffed up, her tail becoming rigid and bushy. She looked wildly over at Mononoke. He was back in his spot at the midpoint of the sidelines, his brows twitching in annoyance at both his students getting distracted and his coworker bring his class to spectate.

"Look alive," he called. With a glance at both teams, he added, "Everyone ready?"

Everyone in Team Kira nodded confidently. A few heads bobbed from Team Teru. They were as ready as they were gonna get.

Fuhai sucked in a deep breath and pushed herself between Teru and Miyuki. In the short pause between her arrival and Mononoke's whistle, she whispered to them, "I have an idea, but I'll need to borrow a jacket when I'm done. Get back with Hagane and Himura, okay?"

She smelt it before she saw it—a rotting stench that was coming from Fuhai the moment the whistle was blown. Miyuki acted on instinct, diving behind Fuhai and tugging at the neck of Teru's jersey to pull him back. It didn't take long for Fuhai to be covered in it, for it to roll off of her in waves; a cloud of death that slowly began eating away at her uniform as she moved back and forth, creating a wall of it that separated Team Kira's onslaught from Team Teru. Miyuki pulled Teru back further and further as Fuhai squeezed her eyes shut and slowly began to turn red. A ball sailed through the air, aimed right for her—but she quickly dove to the ground in an attempt to cover herself from the dozens of spectators around her.

The rubber ball coursed through the smog of rot, and when it landed on the ground it barely even bounced. It melted away like acid had been poured on it, and only a puddle of burnt red rubber was left behind.

Fuhai scrambled for the rest of her team, and immediately Tetsuya threw his jersey at her. So her Quirk did this? Would they be okay if it drifted towards them? Miyuki stared at the wall of smog with wide eyes. Crap, what if they couldn't get rid of it? She tried to peer through it, to see if anyone would try throwing any other balls.

Almost as soon as Fuhai was back on her feet, the somewhat larger jersey covering her enough to be decent, the smog began to clear.

"Come on," Fuhai wheezed.

"Scatter," Teru tried. "Maybe we can get rid of the rest of the balls with Suru-san's Quirk?"

"B—But Hagane's uniform—" Fuhai went even redder and looked over her shoulder at the boy in question. When Miyuki followed her gaze, she saw the silver-haired boy clear his throat and wave his hand dismissively. His ears were almost as red as Fuhai's cheeks.

"B—Better than losing and leaving you indecent," he said quickly.

From the sidelines, Emiko cheered, "Do your best, Suru-san!"

Kira's response was immediate: "Whose team are you on!?"

Another ball sailed through the air. In their distracted state, arguing what to do next, Azumi's throw landed at Atsuko's knees. The other girl buckled under the blow, letting out a hiss, and then she was looking back to her teammates with an almost defeated expression.

Miyuki tried to call after her, "Don't mind, Himura-san," but another ball came hurtling towards them. The group scattered this time before anyone could be hit. Then another ball, and another, and suddenly Team Kira was giving them hell.

Fuhai darted around and let out a strangled cry. She quickly rolled up the sleeves of Tetsuya's jersey and activated her Quirk again, and this time she darted in every direction she could think of as she avoided her teammates like the plague. The fog she produced was thinner than the last, but it remained long enough to dissolve a few of the balls that were caught in it. Small, rotting puddles of red splattered all over the floor, the number of balls left to be used on either side dwindling by the second. Miyuki narrowly dodged a ball that was in the middle of decomposing, the air reeking of death as it fell flatly past her.

Team Kira slowed their onslaught, but by the time they stopped entirely they were down to just two balls: One in the possession of Kira, and the other in the possession of Jun. Fuhai still ran around, keeping up her thin smog to deter any hits that could remove her teammates; even Miyuki could see she was slowly becoming a target, but whether or not the boys would aim for her was up for debate. It was easy enough to wait for the smog to clear or to look for an opening, especially if they risked hurting Fuhai.

Or so she thought.

Kira reared back his arm and took a running start. He made it a short distance from the middle of the court, and when he let the ball loose Miyuki only had a short second to guess where it would go.

"Suru-san!" she cried. As Fuhai skidded to a halt, hoping to duck and avoid the ball, it collided with her shoulder and flew up high into the air. Miyuki could only watch as it slowly rotted away, half-deflated by still capable of eliminating someone.

Mononoke went to blow the whistle, but Mirato spoke out before he could so much as announce Fuhai's elimination. "Miyu-chan! Teru-kun! Catch it!"

She sure as hell wasn't about to burn her hands down to the bone to get Kira out of the game again—but she didn't need to, she thought, once she saw Teru sprinting towards her with his hands coated in a mint-green gemstone. He was chanting something to himself, too fast for her to hear, but what she did hear from him was a desperate, "Boost me!"

Miyuki cupped her hands and bent her knees. When Teru's foot was lodged into her palms, she forced herself to throw him up with all her might. It took everything in her to lift his weight, Miyuki far from used to relying on something other than her agility or catlike reflexes; her knees cried out in pain and her joints cracked.

"Kyubi, throw it!" Kira yelled. Jun didn't need to be told twice. As Teru outstretched his hands to catch the half-decomposed ball, he readied his arm and swung the ball hard.

This was what Miyuki was used to. This was the quick reaction she was used to making thanks to her Quirk's effects on her. Her hand shot up, ready to swat the ball away and make sure the little bastard with the barrier was taken out. She wasn't even thinking as she waited for the ball to make contact—her claws snuck out, almost as though trying to catch a bird out of the sky, and there was no time to retract them before the ball made contact.

All at once, Teru came crashing down on top of Miyuki as the ball smacked against her palm. Her claws snagged the rubber, hooked the ball to her hand, and she could feel it deflate even as she and the boy atop her landed on the floor in a dogpile. Teru was wincing in pain, his arms either side of Miyuki's head, and all Miyuki could do was try to keep the airless dodgeball from touching the ground now.

It was an intimate position they were stuck in. Miyuki dared to look at Mononoke, to see if their efforts counted for something—but the first thing she could see was her eliminated teammates, all looking various shades of impressed and embarrassed. Fuhai had already scurried off the court, being loaned several more jackets from her teammates, but she wasn't the reason for everyone's reaction.

No, it was clearly the horizontal kabedon Teru had landed on her with.

Mononoke blew the whistle, snapping everyone out of their reveries.

"Suru: Out," he said calmly. And then he sucked in a deep breath, peering at the remains of what Teru had caught. "Takemi: Out. Kyubi: Out. Koizumi and Torihikiko: In."

Teru let out a groan laced with relief and rolled off of Miyuki. She pushed herself up to her elbows, slightly frazzled by the altercation, and looked down at the ball in her hand. Completely flat, absolutely useless. She really tore into it in her attempt to catch it. When she looked at Teru, the stench of rot wafting over to her again, she could see the sticky remains of the dodgeball falling apart in his hands. His hands, all the way to his mid-forearm, were coated in that same mint-green gemstone he'd approached her with. Sweat beaded at Teru's brow as he tried peeling the melted rubber from the gems, and every so often the gems would fracture and peel off with the rubber.

Ryo and Mirato were at Teru's sides in an instant. Miyuki pushed herself to her feet as she listened to the boys convince Teru of a better idea, and then all of a sudden she could hear Teru's arms being smashed against the floorboards violently. Everyone looked in shock at the mess of shattered gems that scattered around him, but more than anything Miyuki was stunned by the rawness of Teru's skin. He pursed his lips and sucked in a deep breath, only to release it with some of his discomfort when Mirato meekly blew against the irritated skin.

"You really gotta treat it like a burn, too, huh?" Ryo joked. Teru gave him a dry look from the corner of his eye, but it faded fast and was replaced with an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah…"

Another whistle from Mononoke. Everyone froze—had someone just been hit again? But all the balls were destroyed. What could've possibly happened?

The man in question handed his jacket to Fuhai, giving her a proper chance to cover herself and return her classmates' jerseys. When he looked back to his class, he shook his head with a smile.

"So lively," he mused. "I want both teams to line up at the edge of their sides like at the beginning. Kronos, can you spare a student to escort Suru to the lockers? If she comes back in, I'm afraid she'll be limited in the real of decency."

All eyes went to Kronos. The silver-haired man saluted lazily and turned on his heel, pointing between his students as though trying to pick between them. Finally, saving him the trouble, one boy in particular raised his hand.

"Eh? Meka?" Kronos squinted at him. "Suru is a girl, y'know?"

A boy next to the rowdy girl who'd cheered on Teru stood. He shrugged and met his teacher's stare, his own response very casual. "Sensei, I'm hurt you would suggest I had ulterior motives for Suru-chan. Besides, the classes work together every so often, right? I want to build a rapport with Suru-chan in case we ever get the chance to in the future."

Fuhai let out a squeak and went beet red once more. "M—Me?" she stammered. The boy nodded, giving her a stunning smile as he began descending the bleachers. "Th—Thank you!"

When he was by her side, Miyuki could finally hear him introduce himself to her: "Meka Kuso," he told her, and he shook her hand with that same stunning smile. Mononoke gave them the all-clear to leave, deeming Kuso to be trustworthy with his "precious student", and then his attention shifted back to his class's contest.

"Well? Let's get into place, everyone," he reminded them.

* * *

"S—Sorry to make you run, Meka-san," Fuhai gasped. She hurriedly opened her locker and sifted through it for spare clothes, desperate to return to the gym as soon as possible. "I might get called back in and I don't wanna let my team down!"

Kuso's singsong voice made its way through the partially open door. He was keeping watch outside, back towards her in the most polite manner possible. "It's not a problem, Suru-chan. It's admirable, actually."

Ah! The clothes she packed in case her uniform got ruined on the first day! Fuhai yanked them out of her locker and quickly changed into them. She just hoped she wouldn't get in trouble for wearing casual clothing in the middle of school. It was just until Mononoke's exercise ended, she tried to tell herself.

"You think so?" She hopped around as she tried to stuff her legs into her jeans and fixed her hair. She was going to look like such a mess, ugh!

"I do." She heard him let out a small chuckle. "Actually, I think all of 1-B is admirable. I mean, look at Kousaki-kun—he caught the ball that bounced off you and used his Quirk to negate your Quirk's effects. You had a solid plan going and it worked out."

Her fingers froze as she buttoned her jeans. Ah, her Quirk. Truthfully, she didn't want to be reminded of the stunt they'd just pulled. It was bad enough that Fuhai had been running around, spreading her toxic gas all over the place, but the fact that something touched by it had melted over Teru's hands?

Fuhai's shoulders sagged. Her hands fell to her sides limply. What if it had gone through the gems? And—And he had to smash his arms against the floor just to get the rubber off! Fuhai's lip trembled. It would've been like… It would've been the last thing she could handle her Quirk causing.

"Suru-chan?" Kuso called. Crap, she'd been quiet for too long. Why did he care, though? He had to have reservations about her Quirk, right? And it wasn't like the name Suru hadn't been in the news before. Matter of fact, _someone_ had to have noticed by now. Her teammates? Her whole class? Emiko—

No. Fuhai shook her head and brought her hands up to her cheeks. She smacked them twice and resumed changing. Emiko was too nice to be like that. She knew what Fuhai's Quirk could do and she still cheered her on. Emiko could've distanced herself from Fuhai after the exam, but she didn't. And Fuhai had heard what Emiko and Kira had said when the two had switched out—there was no malice or fear, just a vague response to appease the angry boy.

"S—Sorry, got distracted!" Fuhai slipped on her shoes and jogged to the door. No more negativity! She was done with that! This wasn't middle school, and Mononoke himself hadn't voiced concerns! Only Kira had been hinted at being a special case, so Fuhai was fine! She wasn't being held back by her Quirk, or by that man, anymore.

She was going to be a hero.

Kuso was waiting for her with his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't quite looking at her, contemplative as she approached, but once she caught his attention that dazzling smile was back on her face.

"Meka-san, let's go! I can't let my team win without me!"

"Damn straight." Kuso nodded and began leading the way. "You're an important part of your team, after all."

Fuhai faltered. Her smile became strained, her chest aching as her feet refused to move. Kuso made it a few more steps, only to stop and look over his shoulder with wide eyes. "Suru-chan?"

"You mean it?" she squeaked. "Th—The stuff about my Quirk? And being an important teammate?"

He was quiet for the moment. She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze, too scared of the truth being exposed before her. Emiko was kind, but… What would someone from 1-A think of such a destructive Quirk?

Kuso turned on his heel and made his way back to her. He never said a word, anxiety bubbling higher and higher in Fuhai's gut with every step he took, and from the corner of her eye she could see his arm rising. Fuhai clenched her fists at her sides and prepared for the worst.

Kuso planted his hand on her head and gave her hair a soft ruffle.

"Suru-chan, you're _very_ important," he told her. When she looked up, his smile was more reassuring than she'd ever expected. "I know how you feel, trust me. And… Let's say I know the troubles you're experiencing. That's why I want to work with you when the classes merge—I know you're a good person and that you'll be an amazing hero, even with the Quirk you were born with."

It took a moment for the words to sink in—for what Kuso was telling her to click into place. Fuhai stared up at him, bewildered, and for a moment she actually forgot she was rushing to get back to the gym. She only ever got comfort like this from her mother, always reassuring her that she was better than what everyone thought of her.

Fuhai's lip trembled. She looked back down at her shoes quickly and nodded. "Thank you, Meka-san."

Kuso gave her a playful wink and removed his hand. He planted it on his hip instead and went on, "Y'know what? After the game, why don't we exchange numbers? I'll always be willing to lend an ear if you need someone to talk to."

She nodded again. "Y—You too, Meka-san. You must have troubles, too, right?"

He smiled at her. Instead of answering, he just told her, "Kuso is fine. Now, we better hurry before they start the fun without you!"

"Right, K—Kuso-kun!"

They broke into a sprint and headed straight for the gym then. It was easier to feel excited about going back for Fuhai, like a weight had been reduced somewhat from her shoulders. A small pep talk wasn't going to fix everything for her, but Kuso sure as hell made going back to the gym and facing her classmates a little easier. He held the door for her, patted her back with a cheer of, "Go get 'em, Fuhai-chan," and sprinted back to his own spot in the bleachers immediately after.

Fuhai clutched at her shirt, just above her heart. No one had called her like that in a while… It felt so nice. She hurried back to her team at the sidelines, welcomed with open arms by Atsuko, Lyoko and Soku. Absently her gaze drifted to the eliminated members of Team Kira, until finally she found Emiko watching the game intently.

Maybe… Maybe Emiko would call her like Kuso had too. Maybe the whole class would, one day.

So far no one had been eliminated. Everyone was throwing balls, deflecting with balls, and as she watched them compete she couldn't help noticing something was off about the match. No, not off—different, more like.

As though reading her mind, Atsuko leaned over and whispered, "Mamonaka-sensei said no Quirks for the rest of the match. Everything else is the same, though."

Just as she said it, a trio of balls flew from Team Kira to Team Teru. Fuhai watched her teammates scatter, but it seemed now that she returned they were beginning to lose steam. While dodging the first ball, the prowess Miyuki showed only put her in the path of the other two. One collided with her shoulder, while the other hit her in the gut.

Mononoke blew the whistle. "Nekota: Out!"

"Nice!" Jun cried from the sidelines. Two of his teammates—Momoiro and Yoko—turned to him and gave him a thumbs-up in response. Fuhai hadn't had a chance to get familiar with them yet, but Yoko seemed kind of like Emiko in a way. She'd be easy to approach, at least. Momoiro was quiet, though… Hopefully he wouldn't turn her away if she tried to work with him one day.

Yoko was tossed another ball by Isa, who was recovering in her own way by collecting stray balls from their side, and she smacked it with her free hand.

"Eyes up, guys!" she called to Team Teru. "I'm aiming for your Teru Teru Bozu next!"

The boy in question lobbed a ball at her, clearly insulted by the nickname. "Why does no one just say Teru!?"

She dodged easily, and Isa passed the ball on to Touka once it bounced. Touka caught it, turned on her heel—only to suddenly stumble out of the way of a ball aimed right for her legs. Tetsuya clicked his tongue and began darting around again. Mirato and Ryo were working well enough together, Ryo covering Mirato whenever a ball was thrown in their direction while Mirato pointed out openings to him. Their system seemed to be working for them, especially when, upon seeing Isa move to collect another ball, Mirato signalled for the pink-haired boy to throw.

Fuhai watched as Mami sprinted over, calling to Isa and throwing out a hand to catch the ball. Her speed was just fine, making it in time to stop her teammate from being eliminated, but Mami's grip on the ball wasn't quite up to standard—it bounced off of her palm and landed on the ground, and Mononoke was quick to announce, "Jiai: Out!"

Another ball thrown—this time caught on Team Teru's side, Teru stumbling to correct his footing as he tried to keep a solid grip on the ball. He wasn't paying as much attention as he could've, not when Yoko lined up her next shot and threw her ball at him. She certainly lived up to her declaration. The ball landed on Teru's feet, and Mononoke announced his next ruling.

"Bara and Kousaki: Out! Yaiya: In!"

"Guess it's the guys against the girls now," Lyoko mused. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Give 'em hell, Hagane-kun!"

Four against four, the girls from Team Kira against the boys from Team Teru. Fuhai held her breath as tensions rose. Each team was holding onto their balls like a precious commodity, some even bouncing them to fill the silence. It was a standoff if Fuhai ever saw one.

Azumi moved first.

The moment the ball flew out of her hand, Team Teru unleashed an onslaught upon her. Only one of the balls landed a hit, the rest bouncing around in the fray and nudged aside by the rest of Team Kira. Mononoke blew the whistle and Azumi was already walking off the court when he said, "Masamune: Out!"

The girls took a new approach, all wielding two balls each and keeping the others close by. The boys glanced at each other, glanced back at the girls, and it was clear they wanted to see who Team Kira would target. The girls shifted on their feet, sizing all the boys up—and then Fuhai watched in awe as they threw the first wave at the boys. As they dodged and ran around, the second wave was let loose and the remaining balls on their side armed them once more. The chaos on Team Teru's side was enough to eliminate two of them, almost unnoticed by Fuhai herself as she tried to keep track of each and every ball.

"Torihikiko and Hagane: Out!" Mononoke announced.

Fuhai squeezed her hands together tightly. Only two left, and against one of the recommendation students no less. She couldn't help it; even as the duo tried to gather their bearings and eliminate even one of the girls, Fuhai called out, "Do your best, Koizumi-san! Yaiya-san!"

The rest of their team called out in the same vein. Even Team Kira was starting to cheer as well, their encouragements intermingling with Team Teru's.

A ball flew from Team Teru, the force Mirato put behind it admirable, and it sailed towards Touka as she readied another ball. She moved to deflect it, fingers clutching her own ball tightly, and when the two balls collided Touka suddenly pulled a pained expression. She dropped her own ball after Mirato's bounced away, and she shook her right hand with a hiss.

Mononoke blew his whistle, forcing everyone to a halt. "Yagami, be honest. Did the ball hit your fingers?"

Touka's skin was turning red along the abused digits. There was no use hiding it, and even she could understand that. "Yeah, sensei. I'm comin'."

"Yagami: Out," Mononoke said. "The rest of you, carry on."

"Worst way to go at the end," Touka sighed once she was at the sidelines. "Think I felt one of my knuckles crack too, y'know?"

As she lamented, the pairs carried on their assaults. Mirato stayed back while Soku tried to get a good shot in, darting back and forth from the midline, and Yoko used her cloud to keep her balance with every harsh throw she let loose while Isa carefully dodged and aimed along the court. While Soku was collecting a ball, Isa approached the middle of the court and tried to take him out. Soku rolled out of its path, flinging his own ball wildly, and it knicked Isa's leg on its way past—just as Yoko, emerging from behind Isa, slam-dunked a ball down on Soku before he could so much as get back to his feet.

"Yurenagi and Yaiya: Out! Igarashi and Koizumi, back to your starting points."

Soku rubbed his back and let out a groan. "Igarashi has a strong throw," he whined. "But I got Yurenagi out, so it counts for something, right?"

Tetsuya patted his shoulder and nodded. "A worthy sacrifice."

Mononoke cleared his throat. His students fell silent, and his attention drifted to Kronos. "If you would please," he said, gesturing to the balls.

In a flash, Kronos seemed to flit through the court and fling the balls to his students in the bleachers. 1-A caught them, taken aback by the sudden throws, and all but one was removed from the court when the man was done.

"Sudden death?" Kronos said to Mononoke. The raven-haired man nodded. "Nice. Good luck, you two."

Kronos placed the ball at the exact centre of the court. He skipped back to his students, a big grin on his face, and seemed eager to watch the outcome of the match.

Yoko and Mirato prepared themselves. Mononoke looked between them both and told them, "When I blow the whistle, you are to run for the ball at the centre of the court. All prior rules, excluding Quirk use, will remain in place. You will have just the one ball to use, so make your throw count."

And then he blew the whistle. Both Mirato and Yoko broke out into a sprint, but even Fuhai could see that Yoko was faster between them. She got down low, scooped the ball up into her hands just as Mirato stumbled and ducked down a few feet away from her. Yoko took the same approach as she had with Soku, and she put all her strength into throwing the ball directly down at Mirato.

The first smack of the rubber against Mirato's chest was deafening. But it was the absence of a bounce afterward that made everyone pause.

Mirato was stock still, arms wrapped around him and his body half-folded in on itself. Mononoke slowly leaned towards one side, trying to peer at any sign of the ball, but quickly stood upright again when Mirato convulsed.

Yoko suddenly screamed, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Koizumi-san!" just as Mirato threw up all over himself—and the ball cradled against his stomach. A direct hit from Yoko, but a solid catch from Mirato in response.

The dark-haired girl looked between Mononoke and her classmate, and she started to stutter, "I—I can, uh, t—take a loss from excessive—"

Mononoke shook his head and blew the whistle softly. "No need. Koizumi caught the ball fair and square. His team wins."

* * *

**Practical Classes Arc: CONTINUE**

* * *

**Great big thank you to Insanity's Jewel for Kuso! Much like Syaoran, we'll be seeing him more and more as 1-A gets involved with 1-B!**


	10. 09: Daily Living

**New chapter! And a quick reminder that the class pres poll will be closed soon, so vote if you haven't already! I'll see you all next time and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Arc Theme: Ambivalent - Eve**

* * *

**09 - Daily Living**

Yoko was mopping lazily at the spot Mirato had thrown up on. There was a completely defeated look on her face, her nose scrunching up every so often. Even Momoiro could see the match was eating her up still.

"I feel like a jerk," Yoko whined. Around her, everyone else kept on cleaning—refilling the dodgeball boxes, wiping the bleachers, scraping melted rubber off the floor. "What if I got him in the face?"

Momoiro wheeled his bucket and mop closer to Yoko. He was smiling softly at her, trying to appease her nerves. "He said he saw it coming, Igarashi-san. And he knows you didn't mean to hit him that hard."

"Still!" Yoko stabbed at the puddle of vomit with her mop. "The fact that he knew makes me feel worse! What if he thinks I'm some bully now! What if he thinks I'm like _Takemi_!"

From across the gym, where Kira was carrying a bag of dodgeballs downstairs, came a scoff. "As if," his voice rang out.

Yoko's demeanour suddenly changed. She glared in Kira's direction and held two fingers out in front of her. "That's two words down you're allowed to speak to me! Tread carefully for the rest of the month, _jerk_!"

"Like I want to talk to you in the first place…"

"_You're at thirteen, baby face!_"

Momoiro couldn't help it. He cleared his throat and leaned closer to Yoko, careful to avoid the mixture of puke and mop water on the floor. "What exactly is his limit?" he muttered.

"One word for each day of the month. He's lucky I'm giving him that much."

"Ah."

"Momo-kun! Yoko-chan!" Both of them turned, stunned to hear Mami calling for them from the other side of the room. She was dunking her mop back into her bucket and waving to them with her free hand. "Isa-chan and I are done on our side! Do you want any help?"

Yoko waved at the girl dismissively. "No, thanks. I made this mess, I should be the one to clean it."

As soon as she'd said it, someone descended from the bleachers. It was Azumi, wringing the cloth she'd been using to clean into her own bucket. She looked to be done as well, nodding to Jun to flip the nearby switches to dismiss the rows.

"Very responsible of you," Azumi said, half to Yoko and half to herself.

"I made the guy throw up, 'course I'm gonna clean up after him." Yoko raised a brow at the oni girl. "I gotta say, though, _you're_ rather self-aware of your strength. Didn't peg you for the type to ask if someone was okay after hitting them with a ball."

Azumi paused. Momoiro could see her glance at Yoko this time, weighing the declaration like some kind of test. She didn't say anything in return, lips firmly zipped shut even as she was met by Jun at her spot, and the girl merely carried on like Yoko had never said a thing.

"Yeesh." Yoko began mopping in earnest now, suddenly focused on her work. "If there's one thing Yurenagi and Masamune beat out Takemi for, it's how quickly they can make things tense."

Momoiro hummed. She was right, sort of—Isa had definitely been tense since the match had ended, and she wouldn't leave the comforting side of Mami while they cleaned. And Azumi… Well, she definitely gave off a more professional air to her than most others in the class. She may as well have already been an adult with a laser-focus on their duty. But still…

"It's only the first day," Momoiro decided. Yoko nodded along in understanding. "Maybe once we're all in our rooms and get to know each other a bit more, it'll ease off."

It only took Yoko a few minutes to clean the mess in front of her. She backed away from her bucket to survey it while Momoiro finished up his quarter of the gym, and she nodded with a smile on her face before whistling to Mami to get her attention. "Bara and I are almost done! You can open the switch box now!"

"We're done in the basement!" Touka emerged from beneath the floorboards with Emiko and Kira in tow. She shut the trap door behind them and hurried over to the stray pairs still cleaning. The trio's arrival seemed to be timed well, everyone else finishing up their chores just in time for Mami to flip the nearby switch. The white lines that made up the court flipped back over, the gym floor now unmarred with any colour against its wood.

Momoiro let out a long, exhausted breath and picked up his bucket. He watched Jun carry the small bag of gems left behind from Teru's Quirk, and even heard him ask Azumi, "Think Terurin will want these back?"

He could also hear the slightly annoyed sigh that Azumi made. "He didn't like being called that," she reminded him.

"But Keima-san called him that. Plus, it sounds cute. Too cute for him to handle, methinks."

Azumi clicked her tongue as she and Jun passed Yoko and Momoiro. "You truly are a kitsune…"

Both Momoiro and Yoko glanced at each other. There, right in front of them, was proof that Azumi and Isa just needed time. Yoko grinned and shrugged, picking up her own bucket and following Momoiro out of the gym.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they made it from the gym to the dorms, the four towers casting a shadow over the exhausted students as they stood at the gates sealing them off from the rest of the school. It was very reminiscent of the UA dorms, Momoiro thought as the gates whirred open and let them in; he had to wonder about which classes were where, or if any classes stayed in the same buildings.

They wouldn't need long to figure it out, it seemed—no sooner had they walked onto the premises, both Mononoke and Poltergirl emerged from the closest tower to welcome them. This was, it seemed, where all of there were going to be staying during their time at Zenshi.

"I see you're all ready to settle in," Mononoke greeted them. His students nodded tiredly, but didn't say anything in response. "There'll be a warm meal and a bed waiting for you inside. This building is designated for Heroics Course students, and the first three floors are for our first-years—so you won't need to walk up too many stairs to get to bed."

Poltergirl furrowed her brows at him. "_Or_," she said pointedly, "you can take the elevator in the lobby and save yourself breaking curfew by accident. Mononoke and I will be in charge of the building and its students' welfare, so if you have any issues you only need to look for one of us. Any mail you receive—including report cards—will be placed in the mail slots in the lobby. You can find your room number based on what floor and room is listed, and your key will be resting in the lock for you to take. Any confusion so far?"

Everyone shook their heads. It was pretty easy to follow: They were on one of the first three floors, they had mail slots, and the slots had their keys for their rooms. If anything, Momoiro thought even an elementary school kid could follow it.

She let out a relieved breath. "Good… Mononoke will show you where everything is. I'll be back later, if you need to speak with me."

And with that she passed the students by, leaving the dorms and heading back towards the school with a purpose. The students watched as she left, silent save for one.

Touka mumbled, "You gotta admit, Kronos and Poltergirl act nothing alike."

A small giggle bubbled up from Mononoke. As his students looked back over at him, he was smiling and waving a hand dismissively. "Another time," he told them. "For now, let's get inside."

* * *

"'And those are the rules for the game. Have fun.'" He looked down at the boxes with wide eyes. There was a lot happening on just this first day—all this competing and the do-or-die approaches, and now he was looking down at the rules to yet another game. This one, as far as he could gather, didn't result in anyone losing and being punished at least. "Huh."

Lyoko wasn't about to deny that he was surprised by his whole team wanting to participate. After that mess of a dodgeball match that they won thanks to Mirato's catch, he was sure everyone was ready to call it quits for the day. Stuff themselves silly with food and just pass out on their beds. But here they sat, all in the common room on the third floor and looking at each other eagerly. They clearly liked the idea of this ice-breaker the upperclassmen snuck in during their dodgeball game.

"Well…" Lyoko shrugged and folded the paper. "Who wants to go first, I guess?"

"I vote Koizumi-san," Teru said immediately. He was lounging lazily on a beanbag, buried in oversized clothing that made him look smaller than he was. "He won the game for us, so he should do the honours."

All eyes flew to Mirato. He looked left and right, surprised by the attention on him, and slowly began to turn red at the cheeks. "A—Are you sure? If anyone else wants to, I don't want to get in the way…"

No, most of Team Teru didn't mind. In fact, Mirato being the first one to play felt comforting. He had the future on his side, and he would've walked out by now if the game turned sour at any point. Eventually Mirato swallowed thickly and nodded, clenching his fists like a determined shounen protagonist.

"Alright! I'll start us off!" He rose from one of the couches, which he shared with Miyuki and Atsuko, and hurried to the coffee table in front of them. Only two boxes were atop it, one labelled, _Students,_ and the other labelled, _Prompts_. He dunked both hands in them and yanked out folded slips of paper at the same time. "Torihikiko Ryosuke—describe yourself using three words."

Ryo, situated at the small bench where a row of stools were tucked beneath, stirred his coffee and pursed his lips. It was the first thing he'd done when he'd unpacked his things, apparently; dude really loved his caffeine.

"Three words…" he mused. After a short sip of his coffee, he finally nodded. "Espresso. Double. Cream."

Mirato pouted at him. "Ryo-kun, it says you, not your order."

All he got in return was a particularly loud sip. Ryo was set on those being his descriptors.

"Well," Lyoko sighed, "if it works, it works. So, according to the rules, Torihikiko-san picks next. Koizumi-san, just put the slips back in and give the boxes a jiggle."

By the time Mirato had sat back down, letting out a relieved breath now that his turn was over, Ryo was halfway through his coffee and looking like he'd relaxed some. He got up, took his time walking over, and pulled the slips out with one hand. The other balanced his coffee mug like a pro.

"Atashi Lyoko," he read out. Lyoko startled, to which Ryo, as he unfolded the next piece, snarked, "That's right, I'm coming for you. What are your nicknames?"

Nicknames… Lyoko smiled guiltily. He had a lot of nicknames, but they were usually… Different. Certainly not something a person would call someone without a reason.

He considered for a moment, but decided he may as well obey the rules of the game and say them. It wasn't like he hated the nicknames—they suited him pretty well, if he was honest. "I've been called… Tanker, Tough Guy, Madman… Oh, and Loko."

"Pervert-san," Tetsuya piped up from another beanbag. Lyoko turned to face him at light speeds.

"I will pay you to stop calling me that!"

"Buy my silence for eight thousand yen a month," Tetsuya drawled.

"_Who has that kind of money to burn!?_"

Ryo was already backing away, a small grin on his face as he sipped his coffee knowingly. Lyoko rushed for the boxes, shaking them both wildly, and grabbed at the slips with desperate hands.

"Kousaki-san!" he said in a hurry, only to pause at the prompt.

Oh.

Oho.

Lyoko turned to Teru with a smirk. Teru was sitting up now, sipping at a drink Ryo had set down for him when they'd arrived from their rooms. Lyoko wasn't going to ask what their deal was, but this prompt was sure to make things interesting.

"You ever dated anyone before?"

The timing was almost comical. Teru spluttered wildly, his drink spraying out of his mouth and all over his sweatshirt. He coughed and gagged, jumping to his feet in a hurry to get away.

"Oh! He has!" Soku bounced in his seat excitedly. "Are you still dating them, Kousaki-san?"

Teru flinched at the question. He took in a deep breath, clearing his throat, and quickly pointed at Lyoko.

"Yes," he said shortly. He then moved his finger towards Soku, lowering his head as he said, "No."

Oh, there was a story there. But with the way Teru flinched, Lyoko was beginning to think it might not have been a good one. At least not for Teru.

He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Gonna have to change my shirt…" he mumbled to himself. And then, a little louder, he told Lyoko, "Atashi-san, can you take my turn for me? My room is on the other side of the floor."

Lyoko nodded. "No prob," he said. As Teru retreated, a sort of silence settled over the group. Half of them were waiting for Lyoko, but others—like himself and Soku—were still pondering just what about that relationship had made Teru flinch and answer so curtly. Privacy was a thing, sure, but private people didn't react involuntarily like that.

Lyoko shrugged eventually and stuffed his hands into both boxes, not bothering to shake them this time. "Next up we have… Oh, one Nekota Miyuki." Miyuki waved lazily as though answering roll call. "What class would you pick in an RPG?"

Miyuki's brows rose. She leaned forward and crossed her arms in front of her as she visibly considered her answer. "Hard to pick… Bard? Maybe rogue?"

"With your Quirk, you'd definitely fit a ranger," Tetsuya declared. "You have the animal thing down pat."

She gave him a half-smile and nodded. "Ranger, then. My turn?"

Lyoko stepped back from the boxes and gestured to them. Much like Ryo she did them one at a time, only to pause when she actually read the name to herself. It must've been someone from the other team, still not present to play the game just yet.

"It's for, ah… Masamune-san?"

Lyoko shrugged. "Maybe just skip anyone from the other team until they arrive. Grab another student slip, Nekota-san."

She nodded and reached in again, this time able to voice the prompt aloud. "Suru-san, for you. If you could trade Quirks with anyone in class for one day, who would it be?"

When all eyes landed on Fuhai, her smile was still present on her face. Her whole body was still as a statue, her eyes wide and her gaze staring almost through Miyuki. Another sore subject, Lyoko thought, and it was pretty obvious why. A Quirk like Fuhai's was very destructive in most applications.

Fuhai blinked quickly. She was stiff, shifting around on her seat, and pursed her lips.

"Bara-san has a nice Quirk," she said vaguely. "Kousaki-san too. It'd be nice to make pretty flowers or turn my skin into gems."

"S—Suru-san's Quirk is strong," Atsuko tried. Fuhai seemed to spring back to life, but Lyoko could tell something was off about her. Like she wasn't completely cheerful. She put her hands on her cheeks and shook her head with a whine.

"But it's not cute at all! And all my clothes melt away and I get so embarrassed!"

Instead of pressing how great Fuhai's Quirk was further, Miyuki just let out an exhausted laugh and nodded. "I feel you, Suru-san. My Quirk hurts me a lot when I have to use it more than a little bit. I'd kill for something easier like making plants grow."

Now her mood was looking up properly. Fuhai beamed at Miyuki and whispered a thank you as she bounced past, and then she took her place in front of the two boxes. As she stuck her hands in both, the elevator behind them dinged and slowly began to open its doors. The other team must have been done, Lyoko thought as his brows rose, and they looked positively exhausted. Dinner wouldn't be far away now, so at least they could recuperate from their punishment with a nice meal.

"Yo!" Soku called over the other couch at them. "We got a game from the upperclassmen. Anyone wanna play?"

"What game?" Touka immediately walked over, tucking her room key in her pocket as an afterthought.

"One of those ice breaker games," Tetsuya reported. "We pick a name and a slip and—"

"Y'know what?" Lyoko cut him off. Fuhai was awkwardly standing there with her hands still in the boxes. "How about anyone interested can stay and watch how this round goes? Saves repeating the rules too much."

Right off the bat, Kira and Azumi ventured down the halls and towards their rooms. Azumi at least had the decency to thank them for offering in her own stoic way, but Kira just wordlessly unlocked his door and locked it behind him once he walked inside.

"Right…" Yoko heaved a sigh and joined Touka. At her heels was Momoiro, and Fuhai fidgeted a bit more.

"Anyone else?" Lyoko prompted. A few more ventured closer, sinking into beanbags and chairs around the table. But it was Isa who verbally declined the offer, turning for her own room with the quiet excuse that she needed to contact her guardian. "Alright. Well, if we pull their names we'll just leave them out for the rest of the game."

And then Fuhai pulled her hands out of the boxes. "Alright! I picked… Yaiya-san!" She turned to Soku and smiled down at the prompt. "How many siblings do you have?"

Soku grinned and jumped to his feet, ready to relieve Fuhai of her position. "Only child," he sang. "Unless you count an overprotective Doberman as a sibling."

She giggled and nodded. "I think we can count that," she told him. The rest of the class slowly took their places in the common room, settling into their own areas and getting ready for the game to continue.

Soku shook one box and rummaged around in it for a moment. "Oh, good timing! This one's for Jiai-san." As Mami perked up and smiled, Soku dug around in the other box. "And your question is… What's a hobby of yours?"

Mami clapped her hands together once and seemed to radiate excitement. "I can knit and sew. It's rather fun and therapeutic at times."

Miyuki hummed with interest. "How dignified… I'd never have the skill for something like that," she mused. Mami turned her attention to her in an instant.

"If you like, I can show you how to do it," Mami offered. "It was tricky for me at first too, but with practice comes ease."

Soku sat back down, and after a moment of pause Mami added, "I just walk up and pick the next slips?"

Her classmates nodded. She bounced over to the boxes and beamed back at the students on the couch. As she reached inside and searched about, Teru finally returned with a new sweatshirt and collapsed back into his beanbag silently.

"Let's see…" Mami mused. Their afternoon continued on like that, everyone alternating with their turns and asking questions that started pretty funny conversations for Lyoko. The ice breakers were working a charm, slowly melting the tension in the class that the dodgeball game had already put a crack in.

Zenshi was definitely going to be an experience Lyoko could enjoy.

* * *

_**Suru Fuhai - Quirk: Entropy Principle**_**  
**_Fuhai's Quirk allows her to emit a gas from her body that clings to her. It's extremely toxic, able to rot and melt through anything in a matter of seconds. If Fuhai uses her Quirk with any open wounds on her, she risks infection despite being otherwise unaffected by her gas. Fuhai hopes to use this Quirk for rescue ops._

_**Kousaki Teruki - Quirk: Jewel Skin  
**__Teru's Quirk lets him cover his skin with layers of gemstones that act as armour. He needs to have a proper understanding of the gems in order to create them, and the gems themselves are authentic (and can be sold for a small price). The higher up the Mohs scale the gem, the more pain Teru will feel if they shatter._

* * *

_From: Mom  
Another letter arrived for you._

Fuhai stared at the text message with a dead gaze. Her thumbs moved on their own, her automatic response stopping her from feeling the usual anger and frustration this situation would bring in person.

_To: Mom  
burn it_

She loved her mother, truly and dearly, but the pit of anxiety in her stomach only grew when an immediate reply came through. The woman had intended on the response, readying her own for when it came.

_From: Mom  
Are you sure? It could be important._

Fuhai clicked her tongue and rolled over. She dropped her phone on her pillow and just laid there for a moment. She'd have to get up and get ready for classes soon, but at least the commute was going to be nonexistent. She could probably take her time eating breakfast, depending on what was served.

Her phone buzzed again. Fuhai could feel her eyes start to burn with tears. She loved her mother, but sometimes she wished the woman would feel the same contempt that Fuhai did for _him_.

She sat up, blanket half-draped over her, and she flipped her phone over.

_From: Kuso-kun  
Gooooood moooooorniiiiiiiing Fuhaiiiiii-chan~_  
_What's your preferred breakfast? I'm in line now and I'll save you a seat for when you get here._

Her heart leapt into her throat. Kuso? Right, she'd given him her number yesterday. He'd been really nice to her yesterday. Said that he understood what she was going through, but unless he recognised her Quirk and name from old news reports he wouldn't have had any way of knowing just how much she struggled sometimes.

Fuhai crawled out of bed, blanket still draped over her like a cape, and ambled over to her dresser. But he did say he understood what a troublesome Quirk was like. What kind did he have? Would it be too soon to ask him if she joined him for breakfast? Maybe Fuhai would just wait until their classes worked together for something—even Kuso had said it himself, that getting to know someone from 1-B would be worthwhile.

Fuhai pushed her hair out of her face. She tapped at the screen, sending a reply to Kuso with her preferred breakfast, and made sure to fuss over paying him back. She had her own allowance for food, she couldn't just take something from Kuso's own and not return the favour.

As an afterthought she opened the message from her mother. She wished the letters would stop coming. She wished he'd take a hint and leave her alone.

_To: Mom  
burn it. and please tell him to stop trying. i want to be a hero and his crimes following me won't make it easier._

Suru Shiori's response was quick. The woman had clearly been awaiting her daughter's reply without distraction.

_From: Mom  
I understand. I'm proud of you, Fuhai. You're going to be an amazing hero._

* * *

"Pencils down."

More than half of the class groaned. Some slumped back in their chairs, while others held their heads in their hands for a few seconds. One by one they handed their exam sheets to the desk in front of them, and then Poltergirl collected them from the students in the front row. It was their second class of their second day at school, and it had been a torturous pop quiz on the history of heroics and Quirks.

Tetsuya refused to let himself score low, even if it was just to measure how much he already knew.

He leaned forward in his desk with his hands folded over each other. His chin rested atop them, and his brows would furrow more and more the longer he waited. When it came to creativity, he could easily point out a few members of his class who clearly outdid him—Soku being the top of the list, especially with each idea he came up with in regards to his wires. But when it came to academics, Tetsuya wasn't about to come second place this time. Even if it took him a few classes and a few sleepless nights of studying, he'd make sure his marks were the best in the room.

Poltergirl straightened the stack of papers and looked up at the clock above the board. There was barely a few minutes left in the class, lunch approaching faster than any of them had anticipated today.

"Alright," she exhaled, looking back to the class. "Until the bell rings, you're welcome to socialise or self study. I'll be grading your tests and sorting you all into groups for your first group assessment moving forward. Just remember that everyone has their strengths, even if they aren't aware of them."

She pushed out her chair and reached under the desk for her bag. The papers were neatly placed inside, and Tetsuya felt his shoulders slump once they were out of sight.

From nearby, he watched as Jun leaned back into his chair and let out a tired breath. "I'm so screwed," he whined. Behind him, Teru tried to smile reassuringly.

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Kyubi-san."

Jun gave Teru a pained expression. "Only someone confident in their work would say that."

Alarms went off in Tetsuya's head. His eyes burrowed into the green-tinted hair in front of him, and he could see Teru go tense—almost as though sensing Tetsuya's eyes on him, the intensity behind them.

Jun was practically backwards in his seat now, demanding Teru give it to him straight: Teru was one of those humble smart kids who always studied like a good boy. Teru laughed nervously and waved his hands about, shaking his head with every accusation.

And then Jun turned his gaze to Tetsuya, hope shining in his eyes as he noticed the near-glare he was giving the boy between them.

"Oh! Hagane-kun! Are you in the same boat—"

"Absolutely not." Tetsuya didn't even move his gaze from Teru. "I study like my life depends on it."

Jun huffed. "No fun," he whined. He rose from his seat and stretched his arms above his head. "I'm gonna go hang out with Masamune-san. I bet she knows my pain…"

Finally, Tetsuya thought. There was no way he was going to get Teru's full attention with Jun's usual childish self distracting the other boy. Tetsuya traced over the mechanical pencil on his desk, and with a deep inhale he activated his Quirk. The mechanical pencil hovered for a moment in front of him, then it moved towards Teru at a leisurely pace. The tip of the pencil poked at the back of Teru's head, and Tetsuya made sure to accompany it with a deadpan, "Hey."

Teru rubbed the back of his head, less in pain and more in confusion, as he looked back at Tetsuya. "Um. Hello."

"How would you rate your performance on the pop quiz?"

Teru blinked at him. He took a moment to consider his answer, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before darting back to Tetsuya.

"Well… I guess Kyubi-san is right, I'm a little confident about most of it." He shrugged. "I wouldn't say I aced it, but I definitely knew the answers to a good chunk of the questions."

Alright. Tetsuya closed his eyes for a second and nodded. If Zenshi passed in groups and failed in groups, then he already had the first person he wanted in his. If he was going to get top marks, he needed someone who could pull their weight in equal amounts during group work.

He opened his eyes again, bringing the pencil back to his desk, and nodded once more. "Right. With any luck, Shizue-sensei will put us in the same group."

Teru's expression became more curious than nervous. "Did you have trouble, Hagane-san?"

Tetsuya raised a brow at him. After the answer he gave Jun, was this boy seriously asking him _that_?

"I'll only have trouble if I'm in the same group as someone with low marks." Teru continued to smile at him cluelessly even as the bell rang over the speakers. All around them the class began to shuffle around, and Poltergirl dismissed everyone without so much as a glance over her shoulder. She was out the door and looking over the papers again just as Tetsuya rose from his own seat. "If you're confident and we're in the same group, I won't have any trouble."

Well, saying it out loud made it sound like a tall order. But Tetsuya stood by the declaration even as he left the classroom and headed for the cafeteria. He had goals to keep up with, and simply settling wasn't going to do him any good. _Especially_ after he wound up in _B Class_. Tetsuya was going to have to do better than he'd given the entrance exam, and even the dodgeball match yesterday. He had to, as corny as it sounded, go Plus Ultra.

The only perk to being in 1-B so far seemed to be how much sooner they got out for lunch than everyone else today. It was just a small line of the support department students before Tetsuya got to order his ramen, and then he was sitting at a table with his eyes trained on the doors the rest of the students flooded through.

The staff were certainly generous with their fish cakes, he thought once he took a good look at his order. Tetsuya was salivating as he picked one up with his chopsticks—but his good mood at the treat was soon soured when a pair of fingers darted out and snatched the steaming hot fish cake. Lyoko hissed for a fraction of a second before shoving the fish cake into his mouth. He must have been using his Quirk, the strength from the burn letting him support his own lunch tray with just one hand. He slid into the chair across from Tetsuya and quickly licked his fingers in an attempt to clean them.

"You owe me a fish cake," Tetsuya deadpanned at him. Lyoko nodded, dismissively humming as he pulled his own chopsticks apart. His own lunch was just as hot, yet he didn't seem to be concerned as he shovelled the food into his mouth. Tetsuya scrunched up his face. "Are you sure you don't enjoy the pain?"

Lyoko's glare was the same as usual, exhausted at the accusations and nickname Tetsuya had hit him with. "Pain isn't fun," he said through his food. "I'm just… reckless, I guess."

Tetsuya raised a brow. "You're not even flinching at all that steam."

He swallowed the food, and Tetsuya could _feel_ the burn in his own throat. Jesus, how was this kid still alive if he was reckless to the degree Tetsuya had seen?"

"Well, I have a healing factor. Balances out the injuries and distress needed for my Quirk to work," he explained. Lyoko shrugged and shovelled another mouthful of food at his face. "Big stuff like the metal in my feet hurts, sure, cuz there's wounds that need to close up and all the other medical junk. But if I eat something too hot or get a papercut it's okay."

Oh? Well, that definitely explained how he was still alive, then. Tetsuya would never have guessed he'd be fortunate enough to have a healing factor to balance out the trigger.

"So you'd never need to see the nurse?"

Lyoko shook his head. "No, no, I definitely need to see the nurse. Break a bone, it won't heal properly unless someone corrects it before the regen kicks in. I just don't need the blood transfusions Materia Medica has."

"I see…" He jabbed at Lyoko with his chopsticks when he saw the boy reach for his ramen again. Lyoko actually flinched this time and rubbed his hand with a whine. "Perhaps you should learn to be a little more mindful. Maybe start by not eating my food."

Lyoko scoffed.

Yeah. He thought so. Tetsuya was going to have to stay vigilant even during his breaks.

"I'm content just the way I am," Lyoko said airily. He pointed at Tetsuya with his chopsticks and waved them about. "You, on the other hand… That was a very intense stare you were giving Kousaki-kun. Already setting your sights on a rival?"

A rival? Tetsuya wouldn't have time for a rival unless he lost to them more than once. And he sure as hell wasn't going to fall short of _anyone_ in their class—not even the recommendation students. Surpassing Teru, who seemed meek about his capabilities, was going to be a cinch.

"You don't know how to listen, even when you're eavesdropping," he sighed. Lyoko scoffed again. "If Kousaki-san has a good score, I want to be in the same group as him. If even one person in the groups we'll be in fails, the rest of the group will fail too. I need hard workers, not slackers."

Lyoko stared at him for a second. The seconds turned into moments, and he never said a word even as he and Tetsuya resumed eating. It wasn't until he was done with his food that Lyoko set down his chopsticks and leaned forward on his elbows. He had a barely-contained smirk on his face, like he knew something Tetsuya didn't.

"What?" Tetsuya demanded. Lyoko broke out into the full smirk. "_What_?"

"If only it were so easy," Lyoko teased him. "If only Zenshi were so merciful to pair all the geniuses together and all the slackers together, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you're in for some fun, Hagane-kun." He crossed his arms over his chest and let out a smug laugh. "Shizue-sensei won't hand us passing grades on a silver platter. More than likely, we're gonna have groups consisting of low, average _and_ high grades."

What the hell did that mean?

"So if Hagane-kun is part of the class elite," Lyoko went on, "he's going to have to carry a slacker and a normal person."

Tetsuya dropped his chopsticks. He could feel the horror seeping into his expression, could see it reflected in Lyoko's vibrant blue eyes. No. No, no, no. Poltergirl wouldn't just sabotage her students like that, would she? But… But what Lyoko was saying made sense. It made a level playing field for the whole class. It forced them to work as a group even outside of practical classes.

He cradled his head in his hands. "This school is going to be a nightmare…" He looked back up at Lyoko, ready to ask him what kind of grades he tended to get, but stopped short when he saw the smug boy waggle his eyebrows. Like he was reading Tetsuya's goddamn mind and telling him he wasn't free of the human tank anytime soon.

Tetsuya could feel the soul leave his body for a moment. "Pervert-san is a sadist _and_ a masochist," he croaked.

Lyoko jumped out of his seat at mach speeds. "I'm not a pervert!" he screeched.

* * *

The single voicemail waiting for her was barely enough to bring her back to reality. Ever since her little sister vanished from Seiai, nothing really had. Her dedication to her work had faded with every passing day, and soon even her energy was nonexistent. Her only comfort was her bed, the blankets layered over her as she read old text messages from Arisu.

Her landline had rung today, but she'd been dissociating too much to even hear it. It wasn't until, five minutes ago, she'd gotten up to eat _something_ to keep her family from worrying that she saw the flashing red light on the monitor.

She didn't recognise the number. But when she played it, certain her coworkers were demanding to know where she was, she recognised the voice.

"_U_—_Um! I hope this is the right number… Ah, hello to who I hope is Shokudoku-san f_—_formerly from Seiai! I don't know if you remember me, but this is Chihara Takeshi from UA's medical course. I'm really sorry to call you at a time like this, uh…_"

Chihara Takeshi… Yeah, she remembered his face. He was employed at Zenshi now, wasn't he? Under the hero name "Materia Medica"?

"_I just want to say, to start, that I'm sorry for your loss. Your sister didn't deserve what happened to her. None of those students did._" She pursed her lips and reached for the receiver. Another condolence message. What good would it do her? "_But that's why I'm calling. We have a survivor, Shokudoku-san. But she won't talk and she won't sleep and… We're running out of options._"

Her finger was just on top of the button, ready to push it, when the message blared, "_Then I remembered… Your Quirk lets you enter someone's dreams, right?_"

Her Quirk? What did her Quirk have to do with all of this? She actually hesitated for a moment, blinking as her mind slowly caught up with the world around her.

"_I can't say too much over the phone, but please call me back with this number and I'll fill you in. I don't know if you ever went through with that career idea of yours, but either way you would be a massive help. Thank you, Shokudoku-san_."

Takeshi hung up. She stood there, staring at the screen of her landline, and sucked in a deep breath.

Finally she picked up the phone and hurriedly punched the numbers to ring him back. "You bastard," Doctor Shokudoku Ayumu hissed. "Don't just tempt me with something like that and hang up."

* * *

**Practical Classes Arc: CONTINUE**


	11. 10: Cats and Mice (I)

_**Days since last Runner Ups update:**_** 0**

* * *

**Arc Theme: Ambivalent - Eve**

* * *

**10 - Cats and Mice** **(I)**

"This is a load of bull—"

"_Language_, Takemi."

His fists were clenched tightly by his sides. He wasn't _wrong_—this was bullshit! They'd told him he was allowed to be in their Heroics Department, even if it wasn't the 1-A experience he expected, and he'd accepted that. Begrudgingly, but he accepted it! And then they said they would keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn't break any rules—fine, he could live with that! It was no different to how he lived when everyone thought he was Quirkless. But _now_?

"I'm not some _toddler_—" he tried again. Skathi held up a hand, stern expression refusing to budge as she talked over him.

"And no one is saying you are. But we _all_ decided this was for the best, Takemi. You can suck it up, or you can give your seat in 1-B to someone ready to set aside their pride and work as a team."

Kira gnawed at his lip. His frustration grew and grew, but he couldn't afford to lash out. He was confident, but someone of Skathi's rank would have no trouble restraining him. He hadn't even taken something for his Quirk yet - he was saving it for practical classes rather than theory, and the longer he argued in here the longer he delayed the prerequisite for his Quirk.

"This is babysitting," he growled. Skathi didn't interrupt him this time. She merely looked to the tall girl beside Kira, who was silent as a mouse through it all. "This isn't working in a team."

Skathi worked her jaw. She leaned back in her seat, the groan from the chair the only sound in the office at that moment. It was clear she was struggling not to lash out just as much as Kira right now.

"Making sure your teammate is of sound mind and form," she said slowly, voice low, "_is_ teamwork. It's not just the combining of Quirks and fighting back to back. It's the aftercare in between."

He ground his teeth so loud that it filled the silence that followed Skathi's biting statement. If he had been told that _earlier_, maybe he would've been more accommodating. He wasn't at fault here, and he wasn't going to let this gargantuan woman treat him like he needed to be put on a leash.

Beside him, Touka shifted uncomfortably and let out a quiet, "Uh…"

"Yagami lodged a request to return home during afterschool hours and assist with work." Skathi shifted around paperwork and shook her head at Kira. She sure was an arrogant piece of work, he thought. "We've decided that it would be safest to send a classmate with her, and you're in desperate need of a good impression on the rest of the staff and students. If anything, this is a win-win for you, Takemi—you get to leave school grounds and loaf about while keeping Yagami company."

"How fun," he drawled.

"It's not the shortest straw you could've drawn," Skathi scoffed. She added, "No offense, Yagami."

Touka looked between Skathi and Kira with more confusion and discomfort in her expression. "Uh…"

"You make it sound like I don't take being a hero seriously," Kira went on. He began tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. This damn woman and her assumptions…

Skathi sent a cold glare his way. He swore the room's temperature dropped a few degrees.

"Then accept the duty I've given you. Be a hero for Yagami, and let Yagami be a hero to you. Now hurry up and go to your lockers—I won't accept arguing with me as an excuse for being late to your next class."

* * *

The cheers the boys all let out as they opened their cases was deafening. But even Soku was getting in on the excitement, turning on the spot and getting as good a look at his new duds as he could. He'd dreamed of this moment for years, had heard stories from his grandfather about how the moment would feel—but Soku _never_ anticipated just how overwhelming it would be.

They really followed his design for it all, too! Tight, black hooded tactical vest; gauntlet gloves that still had openings for his wires, especially with his new techniques he wanted to try; the baggy black pants decorated with a half-cape, with the silver knee guards layered over the fabric; and, of course, most important of all—the utility belt that would keep him combat-ready for longer than toughing it out solo would normally allow.

Soku kicked his boots together with a childish glee, listening to the thick thumps they made when they connected. Each boot had six eyelets for his Quirk, and much like his gauntlets he was excited to test it all out and perfect his new moves. This was better than he ever imagined it to be.

"It's finally happening," he squealed to himself. A few of the other boys were showing the same reactions, and the large landscape mirror on the far wall was being ogled while there was time to spare before Skathi expected them.

A few were still lingering by their lockers, one in particular unwilling to move from his spot as his ears turned red and he stuffed his face in his hands.

Soku crept over and cleared his throat. The other boy startled a little, but he didn't remove his hands from his face. He just inched around a little, semi-facing Soku, and mumbled into his hands, "This feels a bit more embarrassing than I expected…"

Though they'd only known each other for little more than a day, Soku hadn't seen Teru so embarrassed before. Not even when he got the relationship question during last night's game, and those were usually awkward for some people. Soku looked him up and down, placed his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture, and hummed loudly.

"It fits you," he decided. Teru peeked through the slits of his fingers and narrowed his eyes.

"They took my measurements. Of course it fits."

"N—No, no!" Soku waved his hands about. "I mean, it suits you! Really says, 'I am Teru.' Or, uh… Whatever you make your hero name…"

Despite how utterly hopeless his recovery was, Soku's words still seemed to have a good effect on Teru. He relaxed some, smiled weakly as his hands slowly fell from his face. It was a weird idea, some of his classmates being self-conscious about their costumes, but he supposed some of them weren't aware they'd make it this far. People handled success differently, after all.

Soku grinned at Teru and nodded to the locker room doors. "What do you think we'll be doing out there?"

Somewhat relaxed now, Teru let out a long sigh and fixed the collar of his turtleneck. "Can't say for sure," he said. "Definitely a team-based drill."

"It wouldn't be Zenshi otherwise!" Soku laughed.

"I just hope I don't wind up with melted rubber on me again," he sighed. Now that he wasn't hiding away as much, Soku could properly take in the costume the other boy had—a black turtleneck with sleeves that almost reached his hands, tapering off to a single point attached to his middle fingers with rings; a sleeveless, white hooded coat that reached his knees in length; black pants with belts at his thighs that held a few pouches; and sturdy combat boots the pants were tucked into. He wasn't sure what Teru found embarrassing about the costume. Maybe it was the black domino mask he wore that made him uncomfortable. "Getting it off hurt…"

Soku raised his brow. He knew it was something that Teru didn't like, but did shattering his gems really hurt as much as it sounded? He opened his mouth to ask, but before they knew it they were outside of the locker room. The boys and girls converged as they approached the exit, and the previous conversation was lost to the excitement of their first practical class.

For a fraction of a second Soku had to wonder if they'd somehow left the school grounds—if the halls of the lockers had really been a path to a bustling city centre. He glanced left and right quickly, certain he would see civilians walking by at any moment, but they never came. Despite the cars that lined the road and the small details of every shop suggesting human life, 1-B were the only ones present.

1-B, he thought once his panic faded, and the statuesque woman waiting for them in the middle of the road. She'd clearly pushed away some of the cars left around the area, if only to make room for everyone to gather, and she was raking her hand through her platinum blonde locks with an almost anxious air to her. If Soku looked hard enough, he could see a cold mist seep out from her lips as she sighed at the sight of her students.

Hearing about Skathi from his grandfather, right when she'd debuted, was _nothing_ compared to seeing her in person. He knew she was tall, almost eight feet total, but to see it in person was staggering. She was almost two and a half feet taller than Soku, and despite the intimidation that came with such a height, Soku found himself giddy. Giddy to be able to crane his neck up at her in _person_, giddy to see her in all her glory instead of on TV or through secondhand accounts. Kronos and Mononoke were cool, as was Poltergirl, but Skathi?

Skathi was a whole nother level.

A whole nother level, and she was their heroics teacher. Headmaster _and_ teacher! How many schools could boast that in their staff lineup?

Soku began to fidget the closer they got to her. The more he could make out the fur trim of her Norse-inspired armour, the more his mind raced with how the class could turn out. Would they actually get to see a demonstration of her Quirk today? Like, a whole explosion of ice just from one strike of her weapons? It wasn't like Soku was _hoping_ for anyone to act up and warrant teacher intervention—but if she just gave a little peek of what she was capable of to scare some students straight, maybe that would be enough!

He felt a nudge at his side, and Soku went frigid at the contact. He looked at the source—an elbow that was now retreating to its owner—and soon met the gaze of Emiko. She gave him an amused smile, almost teasing him as she whispered, "That excited for class, huh?"

Soku took in her appearance before he answered. Her own costume matched the dragon tail she had nicely, blue and leathery and covered in small metal scales around her back and shoulders. Her forearms were covered with metal gauntlets, with just enough left off of her fingers to let her claws peek through and be of proper use to her.

She really looked like a dragon, he thought. Emiko was definitely going to be a cool presence in the hero field like Ryukyu!

Finally he whispered back to her, "I've only heard about Skathi from my grandpa. Seeing her in person is… wow."

"You heard about her from your grandpa?"

Soku nodded enthusiastically. "He worked with her once! When she started out in her team! You ever heard of the hero Wrangle?"

Emiko's eyes lit up, curious and understanding all at once. "I know of him," she said. "No wonder the way you use your Quirk is familiar."

"Yeah," he laughed. Soku awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as they got closer to Skathi. "Grandpa taught me his style of Quirk use, but I need to learn how best to use my own. Rope and wire aren't really the same, y'know?"

"That's still a cool head start," Emiko told him, grinning. "You're, like, basically on the level of the recommendations if you've been taught by him."

Soku's face began to heat up. No way. He wasn't on the same level as the recommendation students, he totally had a long way to go for that. He huffed his cheeks and looked at the ground, too embarrassed to argue back.

Skathi, at least, saved him from further compliments of the like with a rather stern greeting to her students.

"Welcome to your first heroics class," she all but boomed at them. Soku's eyes went wide at the sheer volume of her voice. Big in stature, _and_ in presence—just like his grandfather said. "Nice to see you all found your way here in one piece."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. With a stern gaze, she regarded her students one by one in front of her.

"Normally we break the ice with something casual. But," she said, slowly and patiently, "it's within our students best interests that we jump straight into team activities and strengthening as soon as possible."

Skathi turned on her heel and, from the front pocket of her costume, pulled a set of car keys out. The nearest car to her, small and green and looking like it'd just come off the conveyor belt, unlocked with a loud beep and a flash of its lights. The students all watched, wide-eyed, as she opened the front door and pulled out a shoebox filled with slips of paper.

"I want you all to come up and take a slip in seat order," she announced. Skathi then pulled out a lid for the box, only a small opening free to reach into, and secured it safely over the papers. "I want you all to group up based on your results."

Soku managed a peek at some of the slips that were drawn, like Touka's having a simple black circle on it and Lyoko's having a white circle—which he wasted no time announcing, and Skathi didn't even scold him for. Finally Soku walked up to the box, drew a slip, and held his breath as he opened it.

A black star. Soku blinked, looked around at the rest of his class, and watched as the remainder collected their slips.

Miyuki tapped his shoulder once, drawing his attention to her in an instant. Without so much as a word, she held up her own slip with a black star on it. "Oh," Soku said, mostly to himself.

Her costume consisted of a dark grey bodysuit, with patches of white fur along her chest like a cat; around her wrists and ankles were black spots and half-spots that faded the further up the limb they went, and her thick black boots stopped just above her knees in length. She had elbow-length gloves on that, if Soku looked hard enough, he could see the tips of claws poking out from each fingertip. She had a black utility belt slung loosely around her hips to cap it all off, and Soku audibly gulped at the look.

He was so surprised by the seemingly reserved girl's costume that he failed to notice her put on a helmet reminiscent of a biker's, complete with little cat ear-shaped openings for her Quirk. He couldn't see her face through it, and he seemed to realise that far too late by the time someone else approached.

"Oh, Miyu-chan!" Mirato cheered. He bounced over and showed off his own black star with a proud grin. "I'm in your care again!"

Mirato's costume wasn't as form-fitting as Miyuki's seemed to be—a navy blue long-sleeved jumpsuit with lighter blues and whites forming patterns along the fabric, and black boots with the barest hints of heels to them that made him just that little bit taller. Like Teru he had a mask, but this one seemed to have some kind of tiny light fixed to different points of it. Soku vaguely recalled him saying certain things helped him break away from getting lost in his Quirk—maybe the lights served that purpose?

"Just us three?" Miyuki's voice came out surprisingly clear through the helmet. Soku looked around again, everyone else already sectioned off in their own groups, and nodded. "Well, whatever it is we're doing, let's do our best."

Skathi whistled loudly, startling the gaggle of teens back into silence. She surveyed the groups, counted them all, and then stashed the box back in the car. He wasn't sure why, but she even took the time to lock it and tuck the keys back into her costume.

"Since we're all sorted proper," Skathi announced, "let's get to today's class."

* * *

"The name of the game is 'Cats and Mice', and the rules are simple." Miyuki flinched at the name, knowing with a single glance at the rest of her class that they were thinking of her and her snow leopard Quirk. It was no different to a student reading a passage aloud, only for a character to have the same name as a classmate. "As I'm sure you've all gathered, you'll be playing in teams of three—three cats, three mice. Are you all following so far?"

Everyone nodded along, and Miyuki did the same. So her team would be either cats or mice, she gathered. How did they determine who they faced off against?

Skathi went on, "The game's rules don't take long to get used to. The cats just have to catch the majority of the mice before time runs out. The mice have to look for their 'cheese'—and free their fellow mice along the way if they've been caught. Two or more mice being caught results in a win for the cats. All of the mice finding their cheese _or_ only one or less mice being caught results in a win for the mice."

A hand shot up. Skathi nodded to the student in question.

"So what's the 'cheese' the mice have to find?" It was Kira who asked the question, surprisingly cooperative for the first time since classes had started.

Skathi shifted her weight onto her other foot. "Normally we'd have the support course students whip something up," she sighed, "but this year, we're going to emphasise that you _can_ focus on minimising captures instead of going all out to find the cheese. So the mice will be looking for dolls that have the same shape pinned to their clothes as the mice's paper. So before we start, make sure you memorise what shape you pulled. Grabbing the wrong doll will not count as a pass."

Miyuki quickly double-checked her slip. Right, she drew a star—if she and her team wound up playing as mice, they had to find dolls with stars only.

Another hand rose. Without so much as looking at the student, Skathi said, "Yes, Kousaki?"

Teru cleared his throat, probably a little shaken by the attention. "I—I noticed that someone had the same shape as me, but theirs was black while mine was white."

Skathi nodded. "That's to determine who will be the cats and who will be the mice."

All the groups began to bristle. So their opponents were already decided? Miyuki clutched her slip tighter and glanced at Soku and Mirato. If they were mice, they'd definitely have an advantage in Mirato's precognition. And Miyuki was pretty fast, if she did say so herself. But she didn't know much about Soku's Quirk outside of being able to produce wires, manipulate them. Who knew how many groups had a student that countered their Quirks?

As though taking amusement from their sudden alertness, Skathi smirked at her class. She unfolded her arms and planted her hands firmly on her hips, and she gave them all one last once-over before announcing: "Those who drew a black star, you will be the first round's cats."

Soku let out a nervous laugh beside Miyuki.

"Well," he muttered, "at least my Quirk is good for capture."

"Yeah," Miyuki said, "but who's got the white stars?"

The trio stepped forward, meeting Skathi at the front of the class, and they all glanced at their classmates. Only one group was visibly sizing them up—and Miyuki would bet money that they were going to be the mice for this round.

As though proving her point, one member of the group—Jun—let out a confident laugh and announced, "I like our odds!"

Miyuki looked between him and Soku. They certainly had a very similar ninja aesthetic to them, she thought, though Jun seemed to be a more traditional take. His teammates, Fuhai and Tetsuya, didn't have much to say on his comment. They didn't even scold him, nor did Skathi, for announcing they were the mice. At least they weren't going to be thrown at opponents blind, Miyuki thought with a hint of relief.

Tetsuya's costume was navy blue, a form-fitting jumpsuit with a high neck—yet the jumpsuit only seemed to reach just a little below his knees. Black buckled belt, lined with pouches containing who knew what; dark violet gloves that reached his mid-forearm and slowly led into elbow bracers, and with that metal Quirk of his it was no surprise the bracers had metal plating on them. His calves had similar braces, metal plating and all, and to top it all off Miyuki could very easily guess that the black boots that finished the ensemble had some kind of iron in them. The question was where.

As for Fuhai, it was hard to tell what was underneath the brown duster she wore. Miyuki could make out the fingerless gloves, the green bandana she wore around her neck, and even the black boots. But everything beneath was a mystery. On top of her Quirk, any support items she may have would pose a problem.

Not to mention the stink of her Quirk would make it hard for Miyuki to get close. At least, if Jun's Quirk worked in a similar vein to her own, he wouldn't be able to stick by her for long either. One of them would be left on their own at some point, which meant one capture for the cats.

Skathi was talking again, but Miyuki was only half-listening. Were the cats going to know where the cheese was? They'd be given capture tape, surely—otherwise they'd be relying solely on Soku to detain not only a girl who could melt through anything, but a boy who could just undo the wiring as fast as Soku could produce it.

There was a loud clap, and then Skathi was pointing towards a nearby building with a long finger. "Everyone not needed for this round, enter the apartment complex to my right and follow the stairs leading to the basement. You'll be observing in between rounds there."

The students slowly began to move. As Emiko brushed past, she threw a small smile at Miyuki and gave the trio a thumbs-up. _Good luck_, the gesture all but screamed.

Miyuki flexed her hands and began to partially shift. The snow leopard ears she'd normally sport carefully slotted into the extensions of her helmet, and she was pleasantly relieved to find that the extensions dulled the severity of the sounds around her. Her hearing was better than without them, for sure, but not to the point of being almost deafening.

"As for the cats," Skathi went on, "you have two minutes to enter the area and set up a plan."

* * *

_**Koizumi Mirato - Quirk: All Seeing**_  
_Mirato's Quirk presents itself as a third eye on his forehead, which allows him to see different branches of the future. He's seen multiple outcomes to multiple scenarios with it and has an advantage of foresight against others, but the sheer amount of possibilities is easy to get lost in. All Seeing is prone to giving Mirato panic attacks due to how overwhelming it can get._

_**Nekota Miyuki - Quirk: Snow Leopard**__  
Miyuki's Quirk allows her to transform partially or fully into a snow leopard, giving her enhanced hearing, strength and speed in the process. Shifting into full snow leopard form is notably painful for Miyuki and the sheer sensitivity of fully shifting to her senses tends to incapacitate her more than aid her. As such, she prefers to partially transform and use select aspects of her Quirk in action._

* * *

"This'll be easy," Jun laughed. He had his hands behind his head, his posture loose as he paced leisurely ahead of them.

"What makes you say that?" Tetsuya sighed to himself. He was hoping he'd pick a better lot than these two, but he supposed Fuhai had her perks. Producing gas that melts through anything wasn't something to take for granted.

Jun, though? Oh, Tetsuya knew he was going to be a pain when he overheard the conversation with Teru this morning. And with Fuhai's Quirk probably affecting his senses—especially if his was anything like Miyuki's—he was going to be useless. Utterly useless, and there was no doubt that smug pervert was probably laughing at Tetsuya from the observation area.

Was there a chance Jun may surprise him? Maybe. He'd been surprised by the intricacies of Lyoko's Quirk, its healing factor and everything. Tetsuya was even hoping that Jun would prove him wrong and pull out some kind of trick from up his sleeve. It was only their first practical class, his rationale reminded him; everyone still had surprises to show off.

"Uh, because the person best suited for capturing us is poorly matched to Gas Girl—" Jun pointed two clawed fingers like guns at Fuhai. "—and Metal Man? Not to mention Koizumi's Quirk is totally support-only, and if _Miyu-chan_ if anything like me, she's not gonna come near us with Gas Girl's stank."

Fuhai blushed, thoroughly embarrassed, and buried her face in her coat. Tetsuya could barely hear her mumble that she couldn't help what the gas she emitted smelled like—that she'd change it in a heartbeat.

Tetsuya shook his head. Honestly, the level of crassness this little fox had.

He was unable to stop himself from scoffing, "Only idiots deal in absolutes."

Before Jun could do more than bristle, offended by Tetsuya's comment, Skathi gave the announcement for the mice to begin searching for their cheese.

"Last one to get the cheese owes the other two lunch tomorrow!" Jun shouted, and then he was off without so much as a glance back at Tetsuya and Fuhai. One moment he was there, waiting with them, and the next he was darting around a corner where Mirato had run during the countdown.

"Oh dear…" Fuhai whimpered.

"As long as the two of us don't get caught, he won't lose this for us. But honestly," Tetsuya sighed, shaking his head, "would it kill him to take this seriously?"

Tetsuya glanced back at Fuhai. Even as he began walking, aiming for the centre of the small cityscape, she remained rooted to the spot and fidgeting nervously. There was no way she was just going to stay in that one spot the whole time, right? Tetsuya blinked at her, waited a moment, and when she didn't make a move he simply sighed.

"C'mon," he told her. Fuhai startled and scuttled over to his side. She'd really been waiting for an invitation? So he got stuck with a cocky fox and a pushover with a deadly Quirk. "If we stick together, we'll have a better chance at fending off the cats."

"R—Right," Fuhai squeaked. "W—We don't _have_ to find the cheese, just make sure at least two of us don't get caught by the end."

"Exactly. And between the two of us, I'm confident in our chances."

Fuhai let out a little giggle. Even as they continued to walk, they kept their voices low and their ears open for any signs of the cats. Tetsuya didn't even glance at her as he asked, "What's funny?"

"Nothing," she insisted. "It's just… Being confident in your chances—that's almost an absolute, isn't it?"

Tetsuya gave her a dry glare. He wasn't going to argue, but he certainly wasn't going to take being called a fool laying down. Fuhai didn't shy away this time; she actually met his glare with more giggles, confidence rising the longer they walked.

Maybe she wasn't as much of a pushover as he assumed. She certainly got embarrassed easily and did her best not to stand out, but now that she was working in a small group that was more personal, it was like she was coming out of her shell little by little. Like the shell was less her true personality, and more a mask to keep attention off of her and her Quirk.

Tetsuya appraised her out of the corner of his eye as they walked. By now Jun would be close to the east side of the cityscape, and every time Tetsuya looked to one skyscraper in the mock city, it got closer and closer. For the sheer compactness and size of the arena, it was still rather small. Understandable, he reasoned.

"Um, Hagane-kun…"

"Hm?"

"Do we have a plan for who we run into?"

Tetsuya rolled his shoulders and checked their rear. No one behind them, it seemed; and the smaller buildings didn't look like someone was on them. "My suit is optimized for my Quirk," he told her. As he did so, he pulled off a piece of armour plating and idly played with it using his Quirk. It bent and shrank, thickening and thinning, at every miniscule hand movement. "If someone gets the jump on us, I can buy us some time and keep them away from us until you can use your own Quirk. I may even be able to mess with their own suits if they have metal on them somewhere—I'd wager Nekota's helmet has something in it I can throw her back with."

Fuhai nodded and walked a little faster. "And why my Quirk?"

"As blunt and crass as Kyubi was, he had a point. They won't come near you, only focus on me and him. You're untouchable, you could say—and the key to freeing anyone captured while keeping the cats from interfering."

"Hagane-kun, my Quirk'll melt through the—"

"Kyubi's, maybe. But I can move the metal on my suit and at least put a wall between the gas and my skin." Tetsuya glanced at a mock jewellery store, almost curious to see if anything was inside he could use, but not a single shelf was stocked. He placed the armour plating back on his suit with a dejected frown. "Honestly, I'm curious if I can still manipulate the metal that comes in contact with your gas. Would it be fluid like mercury? Or would it rust and become brittle? I've seen what it does to rubber, but it's nothing compared to all the different varieties of metal out there."

Before Tetsuya could look away from the jewellery store, Fuhai let out a gasp and shook his arm. "Hagane-kun, look!"

She jumped ahead of him, sprinting towards an apartment building that had its front door ajar. Just barely, even from the distance between them, he could make out a child-sized Deku doll dressed in his signature green suit—and pinned to the front, a sheet with a star on it.

It was so obviously a trap, and Fuhai was running right into it.

Just as he thought it, Fuhai skidded to a stop and gasped as a figure jumped out from one of the alleys. Capture tape in hand, Mirato sprinted at full force at Fuhai and crouched low to keep himself out of her sight. Tetsuya pulled plates of his armour off, shaped one into a lasso he needed to pull Fuhai back with—but suddenly he was knocked to the ground by another figure, his armour dropping to the ground with loud clunks now that his concentration had broken. He reached out, hoping to fling even one at his assailant, but Miyuki was quick to wind the capture tape around his arm and fling him onto his stomach.

"Eyes on me, metal boy," Miyuki growled. Tetsuya scowled at her. He didn't need his hands to manipulate metal—and he was going to prove it to her before they ran out of time. As he stared at the ground beneath him, Tetsuya felt the plating on him shift and groan under Miyuki's weight. Miyuki doubled down on the pressure, doing her best to wrap any plating she saw in the tape.

Shame he wasn't aiming for her, Tetsuya thought.

"Suru!" he shouted. Fuhai activated her Quirk with a squeal and jumped back from Mirato as soon as he was within a foot of her. Mirato jumped back too, clearly shocked that Fuhai had used her Quirk when he was so close—shocked enough that neither he nor Miyuki noticed the pieces of armour on the ground linking together and flying towards him as fast as Tetsuya could push it.

Mirato was flung from the middle of the street and into the side of the apartment the doll was in. The metal was wrapped around his torso, trapping his arms at his sides, and it dug into the brick wall so hard that there were cracks behind Mirato when he collided with it.

"Get away from him!" Fuhai shouted. She was sprinting their way now, Quirk still active and trailing behind her—almost like she was preventing anyone from following behind her, regardless of Mirato being restrained. Miyuki gagged audibly (Jun had been right about the sense of smell, it seemed), but she did her best to keep Tetsuya down.

When it became apparent that Miyuki wasn't budging no matter how close Fuhai got, Fuhai began to falter and panic. She stumbled, slowed, and her confidence began to wane. Now she was scared—scared of actually getting Miyuki with the gas, Tetsuya wondered?

Tetsuya grit his teeth. Until Miyuki got off of him and gave him some space to move his armour around, they were at a stalemate. And in this scenario, Tetsuya technically counted as being caught.

"Keep going!" Tetsuya ordered. Fuhai stumbled closer, eyes squeezed shut. Her stumbling turned into a jog, and when Tetsuya added, "Remember what I said!" that jog returned to its powerful sprint.

Miyuki tightened the capture tape around Tetsuya and clicked her tongue. She half-kicked him away and half-rolled off of him, and a distinctive click sounded as Tetsuya was pushed away from her. She was standing her ground against Fuhai, claws out and ready to strike.

Claws, Tetsuya thought. Claws that weren't there before. Claws that, when the light hit them, gave off a distinct reflectiveness that metal tended to have.

Tetsuya grinned.

Fuhai was still sprinting but her Quirk was waning now, using the remnants of it as a wall to keep Miyuki back. Miyuki remained steady, didn't back away, but that wouldn't be changing for long. Not when Tetsuya reached for the metal of her suit's claws with awkward hands and _pushed_.

The instant Fuhai was about to collide with Miyuki, the smaller girl was dragged back by her arms. Miyuki flailed and screeched as she was flung across the street, colliding with the thick windows of the mock jewellery store. Tetsuya winced when she made impact, when the glass spiderwebbed beneath her. But he didn't stop. He rolled onto his knees as fast as he could, and Fuhai was at his side just as fast.

"I'm going to melt a section as far from your skin as possible," Fuhai told him. He felt a tug at a bit of capture tape pulling his elbows closer, and then slackness. "Is that enough for you to get free, Hagane-kun?"

"Plenty. I'll hold off Nekota while you get the cheese."

She nodded. Fuhai turned on her heel, prepared to collect their goodies, but stopped short once she was able to see through the gas she'd left in her wake. Tetsuya watched as her expression fell, her eyes going wide and her breath hitching.

"Hagane-kun…" she whimpered.

Tetsuya followed her gaze, Miyuki forgotten for the moment. Mirato was still held up, right? And so far they hadn't seen Soku, so what was wrong? He searched and searched, peering through the fog, until finally he could see what had Fuhai so shaken.

The wind had pushed the gas she'd let out towards Mirato. Tetsuya couldn't tell if it'd hurt him or not, if Mirato had taken the brunt of it. All Tetsuya knew right now, though, as he stared at the open door of the apartment and the cracked wall beside it, was that the armour plating he'd trapped Mirato with had been melted through. And with a gap in the armour, Mirato had disappeared—alongside the Deku doll.

Fuhai flew past him with a screech. Miyuki was back, tackling the girl and all but slamming her head against Miyuki's helmet. There was a resounding crack, enough to make Tetsuya flinch even, before Fuhai was limp in Miyuki's arms and being bound with capture tape.

Miyuki stood over the restrained, unconscious Fuhai, and through the visor of her helmet Tetsuya could see the eyes of a predator.

"One mouse down," the cat said. She raised a hand to her helmet, and very clearly spoke to her teammates next. "Your turn, boys."

* * *

"Here, dolly, dolly!" he called as he emerged from the alley. "Come to Jun-onii-sama!"

He wasn't really paying attention to how much time had passed since he'd left Tetsuya and Fuhai alone. As far as Jun knew, it could've been just two minutes or even ten—but either way he knew he was going to be caught off guard when the announcement concluding the exercise sounded. It wasn't that he didn't have a plan or anything, or that he was overconfident; Jun was just the kind of person who performed better when he was allowed to wing it, and if a plan had to be followed it had to be on the same simplistic level as… well, as that Tsuna girl from the entrance exam. On paper it was a complicated plan, but Tsuna dumbed it down so much that even Jun could follow easily.

Jun heaved a sigh and kicked out at the ground beneath him. Man, now his classmates probably thought he was stupid or something. But he wasn't! Jun just wasn't the type to keep up with purely theoretical work. Unless he could work from a bare bones outline and do what he knew, he just… struggled. Tetsuya basically calling him a fool stung a bit, too, but the insult could've been worse.

"Only fools deal in absolutes," he pouted to himself. "Who does that guy think he is? Just because he's Yaiya's total weakness in terms of Quirks…"

Jun could be useful too. He closed the gap between everyone and Miyuki, after all, and if he went all out he could totally squash her! He just didn't particularly _like_ going all out, which was fine! Miyuki didn't like it either, apparently, so they were still evenly matched!

"I could take Nekota and Koizumi on my own, even," he told himself. Jun nodded as though agreeing with someone else, but as far as he knew he was the only one in this small area. "The guy's totally stuck in a support role, after all, and I can be fast enough to catch him. The complete opposite of combat-ready!"

A soft thump sounded out from the alley behind him. Jun raised his brows and turned slowly on his heel. He just searched it top to bottom for the doll, there was no way he'd missed anything. But he had, it seemed, because as he stared down the narrow space he could see, rather inconspicuously, a doll sitting on the ground and facing him as though he'd entirely missed the obvious.

The Mirko doll smiled up at him innocently—well, as innocently as a Mirko with a scary smile could muster—and Jun didn't have to look too hard to see the thin wire wrapped around her torso. He laughed to himself, crossed his arms across his chest, and directly addressed the Mirko doll.

"Bet you think I'm stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trap," he teased. "Well jokes on you! I've seen way too many cartoons where they try to avoid the trap in the most convoluted ways, only to fail! I know that being a total hardass and overthinking is gonna get me trapped."

The Mirko doll, apparently losing its balance, flopped onto its side. Jun was pleased with himself. Bet they were expecting someone who liked to be cautious and exhaust every option. They weren't expecting genre-savvy Jun, who could see such obvious bait for what it was—a trick to lure overthinkers into a more complicated trap.

Morons, he thought to himself with a laugh. If they were expecting him to try and avoid an obvious trap, then they weren't going to expect him to walk right up casually and grab the doll.

"Good day, Mirko-chan," he drawled as he approached. The doll continued to stare at him from its spot on the ground. "Thank you for coming out at my request. Your hero is here to save you from the mean kitties."

He stopped in front of the Mirko doll and picked it up with a single sweep of his arm. It sat limply in his grip, soft and clearly made of the same fabric some costumes were crafted with, and he noted with a pleased hum that the Mirko doll had the shape he needed pinned to it. All he had to do was unwrap the wire.

"'I'm so sorry for calling you a fool, Kyubi,'" he muttered to himself, deepening his voice to mimic Tetsuya. He went on in a higher-pitched voice, "'Kyubi-kun, you're so cool!' Why thank you, Suru. You're forgiven, Hagane. Oh? What's that? You didn't find your dolls? I carried the whole team? 'Please forgive us, Kyubi-kun!'"

His ears twitched when the soft echo of a snort, a barely restrained laugh, escaped through one of the apartment windows lining the alley. Right. If this was a trap, someone definitely had to be keeping an eye on it. Jun's face began to warm, and he snatched at the Mirko doll's wire restraints with a furious blush.

"S—Stop laughing!" he demanded. "I'm allowed to enjoy myself!"

"S—Sorry!" came the wheeze of Soku. He peeked out from the window, hand covering his mouth and tears in his eyes. "It's just—" He cut himself off with another laugh. "Your impression of Hagane-san… It's—"

Soku wheezed out yet another laugh, practically flopping over the window ledge and trying to catch his breath. It wasn't what Jun had in mind when it came to overcoming a trap, but making his foe laugh to the point of being breathless still worked.

Jun turned back to the Mirko doll and finally got the wiring loose enough to slip it through. With the doll in one hand and the wire in the other, Jun looked back up at Soku to make sure he was still in the clear. This was too easy, even for Jun. Soku already proved himself to be a skilled user when it came to his Quirk, especially during the dodgeball game, so surely he had more than just one plan in mind and a prayer that he wouldn't get too distracted, right?

When Jun saw Soku again, the boy was still leaning on the window ledge. But he wasn't laughing anymore—Soku was watching Jun with a knowing smile, his previously hidden hand now out on display with a series of wires running from his fingertips.

Soku yanked the wires. The ones in Jun's hand snapped around his wrist like a snare catching a rabbit.

Ah. He knew this plan. Tsuna had come up with this plan. Did Jun just fall for the same trap he'd helped make work? The same trap meant to catch someone faster, more agile than him?

"Sorry, Kyubi-san," Soku said earnestly. "But us cats have to do our jobs."

"And this was the best way for us to do it."

Jun whirled around on his heels. How did he miss someone approaching? Had Soku distracted him that much? He'd been so certain to make sure Soku kept laughing, but also focused on pulling the wire off of the Mirko doll—how did he miss Mirato approaching from the alley entrance?

"Support-only, I may be," Mirato agreed with Jun, confirming that Jun's statements had been heard, "but I'm damn good at it compared to most."

Jun dropped the Mirko doll and frantically grabbed for the wire around his wrist, but Soku was on him in an instant. Jun's arm was yanked away, the boy dragged a few steps away from the doll, and his mind began to whirl. What did he do? Was this how Wonderland had felt when he'd fallen into Tsuna's trap? Crap, _what did he do_?

Mirato grabbed at his belt, and it was only now that Jun noticed the disarray the boy was in. His costume had melted some, the stench of rot still clinging to him despite the gas no longer anywhere near him. There were some burns on his arms that he was very obviously trying to fight back the pain of, and even so Mirato kept searching his belt for what he was looking for.

When he pulled a small canister of something, no larger than the pepper spray carried by any run of the mill civilian, Jun's fight or flight instincts went into overdrive. No way. Their plan hadn't been that simple, had it? Jun hadn't just walked right into their trap, hand-crafted for him, right? He was supposed to know better—he'd carried out this very plan before!

The canister sailed through the air. Jun's heart leapt into his throat. Mirato and Soku had enough protection to cover their faces, but Jun… Crap, why hadn't he thought of it?

Right, he reminded himself. Because he'd wind up ruining the costume if he ever went all-out anyway. One hell of an Achilles' heel, if he ever heard of one.

No, no, stay calm, Jun! Even with the plan the duo had in place, Jun was still stronger than the both of them physically. He didn't need his eyes and nose to get away, and Soku's wires _had_ to have a limit before they snapped! He could do this—_he could do this!_

Jun sucked in a deep breath. Don't rush it, he told himself over and over. The arm snared by the wires yanked, testing the strength, and then Jun felt it—felt the bones in his hand snap and grow, the hairs along his arm turn to fur and become thick. When the sharp nails turned to claws, visible over the small amount of capsicum spray filling the area, he heard Mirato's shriek to Soku to let go of the wires.

The sleeve of his costume tore, and one large, orange fox paw—the size of Jun's own body, nowhere near fully grown—slammed onto the ground hard enough to form cracks in the cement.

Pace yourself. _Pace yourself._

_Fuck it. He had to make sure this doll got to the other mice._

The hand holding the Mirko doll followed suit, and soon Jun was finding himself with less and less room to move around in the alley. Soon it would be a disaster zone, the buildings anthills for him to trod all over, but right now he had to get this doll as far back to Tetsuya and Fuhai as possible. Jun reared back the oversized paw, straining to hold it up with the human muscles still attached to the rest of his body, and then he swung it forward as hard as he could.

Not only did the Mirko doll sail out of the alley, out of sight and over smaller buildings outside, but so did the capsicum spray. It billowed all over Mirato, forcing him out of the alley entrance and to fresh air on the other side; Jun didn't waste any time with the exit right in front of him, not when he was going to need some serious wiggle room.

With the last of his smaller, regular form's speed, Jun broke into a sprint out the entrance and fought to keep the wires from keeping him inside. He strained and strained, one paw reaching the outside world and hooking onto the pavement for support. As he gritted his teeth and pulled against Soku's wires, against Soku's own strength thanks to them, he could feel his face elongate and his mouth and nose morph into a snout.

"Yaiya-kun!" Mirato coughed, desperate. Oh, he'd seen this outcome for certain. Mirato had to have been praying it didn't come to this—probably hoped Jun was too cautious to take this route. But a cornered mouse was still desperate enough to do the impossible, even if the impossible took them out for the count.

More wires snaked around him—both of his feet were yanked off of the ground, just as his knees bent and cracked and the legs of his costume burst into a flurry of fabric rain. Soon came the pressure around his torso, right when Jun felt his shoulders broadening and his ribcage stretching his skin. The more Jun transformed, grew, fought, the more Soku bombarded him with wire wrapping to hold him in place.

Jun exploded into his full size, desperate to break free. His upper half landed on the ground outside the alley successfully, swatting Mirato away as Jun—now fourteen feet and completely turned into a fox—screeched at the top of his lungs. His back legs, trapped in the alley still, caved in the walls of the buildings beside him. Brick and foundation landed on him and made him wince in pain, but more than that he was keenly aware of Soku landing on his back and attempting to climb further—to his head, no doubt.

Jun shook himself, snarled; he screeched once more, and this time Soku paused. Far too loud for the other boy, for sure, and Jun had plenty of energy to spare if he just kept up the screeches.

He could feel Soku tumble off of him as he shook his body once more. The wires were still in place, still a nuisance, and they would only get worse when he noticed Mirato running back in his direction with a handful of them. Mirato called out to Soku again, tossing the roll of wires towards Jun—and like a well-oiled machine, Soku released the wires holding Jun's back legs and focused on the loose ones near the front ones. Jun's eyes went wide. He was far too slow in this form to avoid the wires snapping around both legs like the snare from earlier, and he was far more clumsier when the legs knocked together and his front half toppled to the ground.

He opened his jaws once more to screech, but as soon as he did Soku—hands bleeding and breathing ragged—flung more wires in his direction and muzzled him.

How goddamn strong were these things?!

Jun almost didn't hear it at first—the announcement that rang out through the area as soon as he was muzzled. He was too busy trying to find a loophole, some weak spot in the wire to break free; but once he gave up, Skathi's repeat of the message and the other boys' apparent celebration all but confirmed what he knew had happened.

"_No cheese has been stolen by the mice,_" her voice boomed over the speakers. "_Hagane Tetsuya, Suru Fuhai, and Kyubi Jun have been captured. Victory goes to the cats._"

Jun all but deflated, the pent up energy his larger form had tried to release fizzling away like an ember in snow. All of them were captured? But… But they had Fuhai's stink! They had Tetsuya's metal manipulation! And they had Jun! _Jun_!

By the time his body shrank, the wires no longer constricting his movement, Jun laid in a ball on the ground and curled his tail around himself. He ruined his costume, lost the Mirko doll, turned into a giant fox—all for nothing?

His disappointment was so thick, so overwhelming, that he never even noticed what else Mirato had anticipated in this worst-case scenario. He couldn't find it in him to notice the blanket, fished out from the rubble of the building Soku had been inside, being draped over him while two sets of hands patted his back and told him how amazing he'd been.

* * *

**Practical Classes Arc: CONTINUE**

* * *

**This chapter kicked my ass harder than the cats kicked the mice's asses. Fight scenes aren't my strongest point so I hope this made sense? And hopefully the next chapter won't be hooo boy long in wait.**


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